Take the Long Way Home
by Carebearmaxi
Summary: This is a SND BATB fan fiction. It's been 10 years since Devin was home. This time instead of a lonely companion with him he has taken his three daughters from their mother. Devin comes home to the Tunnels and finds many a change but hopes the changes do not mean he can find his own solution to his own problems.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I have loved BATB forever. I have not written a BATB fan fic for a long time and this is the first one I ever published. I am a Classic SND fan, so I write my fan fiction per that. I started this story almost twenty years ago. Enjoy and review. Thank you - carebearmaxi**

Take The Long Way Home

A dark haired man with three little dark haired girls walked very late at night through the streets of New York City. By the dark-haired man's memory they were almost to their destination in Central Park.

"Come on, we're almost there. Just a little further," the dark-haired man in his mid-forties said to his companions. "We're almost home."

The three little dark-haired girls ranged in ages from nine to five years old. Their father, who they knew originally as Carl Sidney, now knew that his real name was Devin Wells and he told them tales of where he had grown up and about his family.

"Ok, we're here," Devin said to his three daughters as he stood in front of an old iron door in the threshold of a large drainage area in southeast corner of Central Park. He took an old piece of pipe he had brought with him for the purpose and tapped out long taps and short taps.

"This is pipespeak. This is how we communicate in the tunnels. Pascal who is head communicator can speak and relay almost a 100 messages at the same time. You should see the pipe chamber. It is fantastic!"

"Daddy, why are we here? Why was not mom allowed to come?" Angelica Wells the eldest inquired.

"Daddy, I'm tired and hungry. I'm cold. Why can't we go home?" The middle daughter Miranda Wells whined.

"I want mommy!" The youngest Heather Marie Wells cried out throwing herself into her father's arms.

Devin continued tapping with one hand hoping against hope that someone would hear the sound and relay it to a resident who still knew him. Devin never thought that Father may not still be alive. Devin prayed that Vincent was still there. Vincent, his lion faced little brother, whom Devin loved unconditionally as Vincent loved him.

The iron door suddenly shot to the side and out stepped Vincent seeing his older brother and three little girls standing in the "vestibule" of his home.

"Devin? Devin!" Vincent exclaimed with joy and relief. He stepped forward and fiercely hugged him.

"It's been 10 years!" Vincent said looking at Devin. "It is so good to see you. You stopped sending letters. We almost gave up hope that you were still alive!" Vincent hugged him again.

"Well, there was a very good reason why I stopped writing," Devin said proudly as he walked across the vestibule where his three little girls intrepidly waited for an explanation of who Vincent was and why he looked like a giant two-legged lion.

"These are my daughters: Angelica, aged 9; Miranda, aged 7; and Heather Marie, aged 5," Devin explained as he put his arms wide around all three lovely little girls.

Vincent crouched down to look at Devin's children on their level. Vincent examined Devin and felt that he would still know him anywhere mainly because of the three deep scratch scars left on Devin's cheek. However, Devin's hair contained a little less color than gray. He was still thin and almost as tall as Vincent himself. On initial glance, Angelica, Miranda, and Heather Marie looked just like their father and almost like triplets, but on closer examination, Vincent had detected some notable differences like height and facial features.

"Hello girls. I guess this makes me your Uncle Vincent," Vincent said and smiled. All three girls looked up at their father and he smiled down at them. Vincent gazed at the little girls and instead of fear he detected wonder and awe. They looked up at him as if they were seeing something fantastical. Angelica, Miranda, and Heather Marie looked at each other and sighed in awe at this man who said he was their uncle. All three then, after looking back at their dad, stepped forward and hugged Vincent with all their might. Vincent was so glad to feel their little arms around his neck and in his head. He thought that Devin must have warned his daughters about him before he brought them here. He was so happy to know that Devin's children were not frightened of him. It had been a long time now since any one had been truly frightened of his less than human-like features.

"I told the girls all about you. How we grew up. They promised me they wouldn't be afraid of you."

When they girls were finished hugging Vincent, they stepped back and Vincent moved so all 4 four visitors could follow him.

"Ten years, Vincent. I was hoping against all hopes that everyone was still here," Devin ventured.

Vincent said, "Yes, everyone you know is still here and there are some changes. First, though, let me get you to Father and Mary."

They walked through mazes and twists and turns until finally coming upon a large chamber filled with books and candlelight and an elder gentlemen sitting before a chessboard. Father, who now was very elderly, sat at the table waiting for his chess adversary, Vincent, to return so they could finish their weekly game. Father thought he was on the threshold of winning, so he had been anxiously awaiting Vincent's return. As the candlelight bent in the breeze caused by the movement of air, Father turned around in his chair and noticed Vincent with the four visitors who must have been the ones tapping pipespeak. Father smiled and rising with a little more difficulty than he once had hurriedly limping forward and embraced his elder son.

"Devin! Devin! I am go glad to see you! You've come home!"

"Yes, father, I have. I have also brought your granddaughters with whom you should get acquainted."

Father looked down and saw the three little girls flanking their father.

"Go ahead and introduce yourselves to your grandfather, Jacob. This is my father. Like your grandpa Rupert is your mother's father," Devin said proudly.

The eldest dark haired girl decided to be grown up and speak for all three.

"Hi Grandpa Jacob, my name is Angelica. I'm 9 years old."

She put her arm around the little girl to the left of her and said proudly, "This is my sister, Miranda and she is 7 years old."

Putting her arm around the other little girl to the right, Angelica said, "This is my baby sister, Heather Marie. She is only 5 years old."

Miranda and Heather Marie just stood there. Somehow they found their very human grandfather more imposing than their unusual featured Uncle Vincent.

"Well, I am so glad to meet you. Yes, I am your grandfather," Father said as he hugged them all in one big embrace.

"I see you've met your Uncle Vince..."

"Vincent?"

Vincent turned around at the female voice who was calling to him.

"I'm in Father's Chamber," Vincent said extending his hand to the unseen female voice.

When Devin saw who the woman was he could not help but smile a very large smile. For the woman he saw he had known previously but now she was dressed in tunnel clothing albeit a little more fancier than some of the other rough clothes he remembered and heavily pregnant.

"Catherine?!" Devin came down the steps to go up the steps to the other adjoining chamber and gave her a huge hug.

"Devin?!" Catherine exclaimed.

When Devin released her, he looked at her and finally did notice her condition, "Oh my...what are you doing down here?"

Catherine smiled and so did Vincent.

"I'm Vincent's wife now and have been for the last ten years," Catherine said smiling at seeing the shocked look on Devin's face.

Devin was shocked but he was so happy for his brother. Devin, unlike father, had always thought that Vincent was capable and deserving of a woman's love. Now seeing Catherine's condition he was even more happy that Vincent would be a father, too, and his daughters would have a cousin.

"You don't mind if I ask you when the baby's due?"

"Correction. Babies. Next month if Peter Alcott's exam and calculation was correct," Vincent said.

"Dad! Mom!" Devin heard a couple of children's voices calling.

"Jacob, Jonathan, we're in here," Vincent called.

"Lost sheep looking for their father and mother?" Devin asked.

"Not exactly," Catherine said as two little strawberry blonde boys came into the chamber and stood next to her and Vincent.

"You see, Dev, these two are our 4th and 5th children," Catherine said proudly rubbing her baby bump.

Devin's draw dropped."Wow, there have been some changes around here!"

Seeing his three daughters still standing next to father, he motioned for them to join him where he stood.

"I'm proud to introduce you to our sons," Vincent said proudly.

Putting his hand on the taller boy, Vincent said, "This is our eldest son, Jacob, age 10 and this little man is our youngest son, Jonathan. He's same age as Miranda 7. We also have a daughter, Mary Margaret but she's only 4 and it seems she is still asleep. Right boys?"

Jacob and Jonathan both nodded yes to their father.

"We made sure not to wake her up or else we would have to read her another four books just to get her to sleep!" Jacob complained wiping a hand across his forehead as if reading to his little sister had been exhausting work.

Devin shook both boys' hands and then introduced their cousins to them. Leaving the children to their own devices for a little bit before Catherine would escort the children back to their chamber, the four adults took a seat around the large round table which was used for not only the chess games but as a round table for Council meetings.

"I can't believe you guys finally did it and got married," Devin said putting a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "Catherine when did you resign from the D.A's office?"

Catherine finding it difficult to speak of the circumstances surrounding her resignation from the D.A.'s office hedged details and said," About ten years back after I gave birth to Jacob."

"After?" Devin asked. He wanted to know because when he left with Charles to trek to the mountains those many years ago Vincent had not ever thought he was capable of a normal life. Nor did father Devin suspected.

"It's a long hard story to tell at this late hour, Devin. I promise you'll know in good time," Vincent said feeling the echo of Catherine's difficulty in his own heart.

"We want to know what's been going on with you, Devin. What happened to Charles and why is the girls' mother not with you?" Father asked.

Devin glanced at his daughters sharing books with Vincent's two sons and smiled. He was so happy that his brother knew the joys of fatherhood. Vincent was probably a better father than he himself Devin thought. Vincent would never have dragged his three daughters away from their mother in the middle of the night to take them to a place which was mysterious and contained people that they were never allowed to talk of once they left here.

Catherine was the first one to notice the wedding band on Devin's hand.

"Where is your wife, Devin? I assume she is your daughters' mother," Catherine said and looked back at where the three girls were reading books with her sons.

"My wife is in Pennsylvania. We left her almost a day ago in the mountains near Pittsburgh. My minivan is parked at a free lot near one of the old stores a few blocks from here." Devin became silent.

"Why did you leave?" Vincent asked. He thought something must have really been bad if Devin had left his wife and dragged his children with him to his hole-in-the-ground home as Devin would always sarcastically describe it.

"My wife and I were having problems and the girls were not being properly taken care of. At least that's what I thought until my youngest Heather Marie said she missed her mother making me feel guilty. I just had to get away from my wife and I had thought it better if I took the girls with me to give her some breathing room."

"Let's start at the beginning," Father said also taking a glance behind him to where the children examined the books in his library.

"Oh, Angie, Merry, and Heather all love books, Father. I am sure they will be occupied for a while over there, " Devin said putting Father's fears to rest. "Especially with their new cousins."

Father looked at Devin then and his face was very serious because Devin had pulled stunts like this before. The first time he came back home after twenty years he had been posing as a lawyer and he had admitted that he had delivered a baby by C-Section while posing as a doctor and then there had been many other identities which he let slip at that first meeting. Then one year later he returned home as a fugitive with Charles. A man who had grotesque subcutaneous tumors from Fibramatosis or the same condition that John Merrick aka The Elephant Man had suffered in the early 1900's. Devin, at the time, had expected that the community would just accept this man without question while Devin returned to some semblance of life above. To Father's great surprise, Devin had done some maturing then and had taken Charles with him to travel with him and be his companion.

However, now, there seemed to be a much more serious issue at hand because Devin now had three daughters and had admitted he had spirited them away from their mother because he thought he could take better care of them than his wife. Father hoped that Devin would not be stingy with information or give half truths and let them know what they were to do.

Father looked at Devin and said, "Let's get the children someplace to sleep first and then we can have a cup of tea and catch up".

"They can share our childrens' chamber. I'll just get Mary to make up new cots in there. There's plenty of room because we were clearing it out to prepare it for the new babies," Catherine said.

"Thank you. I will go with you to find Mary and let the girls know that I'm here in case they need them," Devin said.

"I'm sure Jacob and Jonathan will keep them up getting to know them. They have a tendency to ask a lot of questions," Catherine said getting up from the table and taking Devin's arm for assistance. "I won't be long," She motioned to her husband and Father.

"Sounds like you're raising two lawyers already," Devin chuckled at the thought.

Vincent and Father remained at the table watching silently as Devin and Catherine assisted the children from the chamber.


	2. Take the Long Way Home - Ch 2

Take the Long Way Home Chapter 2

Devin and Catherine walked slowly with their respective children walking on ahead. They were silent for about three minutes and then both asked together "So what's been happening?" They both laughed. Devin volunteered first. He sometimes found it easier to talk with Catherine than either to Vincent or, of course, to Father.

"Yes, please, tell me. Last time I saw you you were with Charles leaving for the mountains. What happened to Charles?"

Before Devin began to talk, they stopped along the tunnel wall and Catherine took her eldest son's hand, "Jacob, take your brother and your cousins and show them where they will sleep in your chamber. You know where the extra bedclothes are, ok? You know the way so you don't have to wait for me. Ok?"

"Sure, mom," Jacob said and winced as Catherine gave him a big kiss on his cheek.

"It's safe. Don't worry. Jacob is a very responsible, mature boy for his age," Catherine stated proudly.

"Just like Vincent. Once he was old enough he assumed a lot of responsibility especially after I ran away the first time," Devin said lowering his eyes and resuming their walk. He offered to take Catherine's arm as she was so enormously pregnant he felt she may need for someone else to bear her weight for a while.

"Thank you. I'm used to walking in this condition. But thank you for the offer," Catherine smiled and shook her head.

Devin continued where he left off.

"Well, about Charles...mmm. About ten years ago almost right after we left here, we did go to the mountains. Charles and I had a great time for a few months and then he developed a chill to the colder and higher atmosphere. His chill turned into pneumonia. However, we initially thought that it was an allergy, so we decided to venture onto the midwest. We got an apartment and while Charles stayed home I did odd jobs like working in a restaurant during the day and then some nights I would be a handyman and fix things for single women or working moms without a husband. Kind of a "Hire a Husband" gig. It kept food on the table. One day Charles' "allergy" turned into pneumonia. So I took him to the hospital. When they saw the severity of his condition and the seriousness of the pneumonia, they admitted him."

Here Devin stopped talking and swallowed, coughed, and brushed a tear from his eye.

Thinking it may have been from sadness, Catherine gently asked, "Where is Charles now?" She almost dreaded asking the question because Devin became so quiet and silent that Catherine suspected something awful had happened to Devin's friend.

"Charles, I am happy to say, lives in his own home with his female companion, Deidre."

Catherine smiled and asked, "Female companion? Is it a "romantic" situation?"

Devin smiled and said, "Well, I think it could be if it were possible. They do love each other."

Catherine wiped a tear away from her own eye. "Is he happy?"

"Yes. Last letter I received from him he said he was very happy. So was his Deidre."

There was a pause as they approached Vincent and Catherine's chamber. They could still hear the children laughing and bouncing about. Catherine also heard Jacob admonishing them and telling them to be quiet because they would wake up little Mary who slept peacefully in the corner of the chamber in her own little bed.

Devin made way for Catherine's sizable girth to fit through the doorway. Catherine made her way to the large round table and lit the candle in the center from the one that Devin had been carrying as they walked.

As he pass through the doorway and the chamber was illuminated, Devin looked around and commented.

"Wow, who carved out these extensions? When Vincent and I shared this chamber as boys we loved the coziness. I guess that was a little impossible now."

"We needed the extensions. Do you seriously think that Vincent and his wife and growing family were not going to need a larger living space? I mean the books alone have their own room, here, " Catherine said smiling remembering a conversation she had with Vincent when she had initially began moving some of her most beloved books from her apartment to their chamber. Most of Catherine's belongings were given to Helpers or sold for foundations that she helped create from her own money and her father's money she had inherited. Joseph Maxwell, her former boss, had been a godsend and gladly became chairman of these organizations when he had married and started his own family.

"Guess not. I understand. I have my own three little angels," Devin said coming to take a seat at the table.

"So what happened to you after Charles went to live with Deidre?" Catherine asked still curious as to how Devin became a father and why his wife was not with him.

"Well, when I took Charles to the hospital, I met his nurse. Since Charles was a special case, he had the same day and night teams for his care. That's when I met my wife, Angela McMillan. She was on the day team. We dated and then fell in love and we got married about six months later. On the fly, by the way, because when does Devin Wells do anything on solid ground? My oldest, Angelica, was born about nine months to the day of our wedding and she looks the most like my wife. Miranda and especially Heather Marie is the most like me. All three have dark hair, but Angelica has big green eyes and a square chin as opposed to my other two who got my brown eyes and pointed chin and long nose.

"All three are beautiful little girls," Catherine said.

"Thank you. Your guys are adorable. They both remind me of Vincent especially Jacob," Devin hedged delaying the question he knew she would want answered.

"What happened to your wife?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, what happened to your wife and why did you take your children from their home?" Vincent asked as he came to the doorway carrying holding a torch illuminating the entire room.

Vincent put the torch in the holder outside and then came to sit at the round table next to his wife.

Devin watched from across the table as Vincent put an arm around Catherine and squeezed her upper arm gently. He watched then as Catherine put her head on Vincent's shoulder and her hand in his other hand which Devin noted was Vincent's left as Vincent now wore a wedding ring. Devin looked own at his own hand and he had completely forgotten that he also had been wearing his wedding ring which matched exactly the one being worn by the woman Devin had sworn to love " 'til death they do part."

"Well, you see, it's like this..."

 _Meanwhile in the children's part of the chamber..._

Jacob, 9 years of age, asked his cousin counterpart the same type of question. "Where's your mom?"

Angelica, nickname Angel, responded, "She's at home in bed. She never told us she was sick, but I know something else is wrong. She didn't seem to want to wake up when daddy told us to kiss her goodbye. She just said goodbye and told us to be good for daddy. She then turned over and pulled the covers up to her head and went back to sleep."

Jonathan, Jacob's younger brother by two years, shared this chamber with their four-year-old sister, Mary Margaret who seemed to sleep through all the hullabaloo happening around her. Catherine had just stepped in a minute ago and told them to be quiet so they would not wake her or else they would have to read her asleep again and they all knew how long that could take.

Angelica took a walk to the corner of the room where Mary slept, "Is this your sister?"

"Yes, it is".

Angelica came back and got under the covers of the cot next to Jacob's which Vincent had moved in before returning to his part of the family chambers.

"She's very cute. She slightly resembles a lion cub."

"Yes, she did come out looking like dad. How long have you been away from home?"

"A couple of days," Angelica answered her cousin as he lay down and pulled the covers up.

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes, but she was not paying very much attention to us lately. She stopped going to work as a nurse and then she stopped being a mom to us. Daddy came home from his job without realizing that mom had not fed us or had given Heather Marie a bath. So I stepped up to the plate and I started doing a lot of her work in the last month which made me extra tired for school. After I started doing mom's work, I was dragging myself to school and missed a couple of days. That's when daddy really got mad. We were supposed to have a new baby eventually, but mom lost it."

"You mean your mom miscarried?"

"Yes, but it was about three months ago and mom just took to bed one day and got up very little after that. She's been taking some type of sleeping pills, too, which doesn't help the situation. So about a couple of days ago, dad goes into their bedroom and we hear all this yelling. Dad storms out and tells Miranda, Heather Marie, and me to pack some clothes and says that we were going home. We told daddy that we were home, but he said 'No. My home' Then we left and here we are," Angelica said sounding as if she was relieved to finally tell someone about how strange and scary her daily life was presently.

Jacob, just like Vincent, said, "You have come home. I am glad you, Miranda, and Heather Marie are here. You may like it."

Jacob whispered, "Good night Angelica."

Angelica whispered back wearily, "Good night, Jacob."

Then all at once it seemed that all three girls went to sleep and so did the boys.

 _Back in the adult section of the chamber_

"Angela miscarried our fourth child about three months ago. She has been suffering from depression ever since. At first it wasn't a problem and I understood. We were both heartbroken because this one was going to be a boy. We had been hoping for a boy if Angela became pregnant again. However, sometimes in the past few weeks, I would look up to her and she would have the most melancholy look on her face. I would ask her if everything was ok and she would say yes. Being depressed she found she couldn't sleep right and her hospital schedule was hectic once she went back. A psychiatrist friend of hers from the hospital starting treating her for depression and gave her some sleeping pills to take when needed so she could get a good night's sleep and function for work. "

Here Devin rose and started pacing restlessly around the room. He turned around to look at his brother and sister-in-law and said, "I came home from work the other day and see that Angela has not rose from bed now in about a month. Angel...Angelica...tells me that she has been doing the laundry, cooking, bathing the three of them and taking care of their mother. I blew it and stomped into the bedroom and confronted her and told her she was shirking her duties as a mother to the other children and that I was going to take our kids and go back to where I grew up. She responded very sarcastically and angrily told me to go and to take the ungrateful little "bitches" with me. I took the girls into the bedroom to say goodbye to her and she just kissed them on the cheek and told them to be good for me. She then turned over and pulled the sheets up to her chin and went to sleep."

Devin resumed his seat and waited for a response from Vincent and Catherine.

"Are you sure she's still ok? Do you have someone who can check on her?" Vincent asked concerned. If his wife was as ill as he said, the last thing Devin should have done was leave her alone.

"Yes, I called the house from a telephone booth before venturing down here. She answered and she asked us to come home and promised me she would not take any more pills, but I told her that the girls and I will come home when we are ready. I gave her an ultimatum that she get herself back up to snuff and then I would bring the girls home. I also gave her Mr. Wong's number if she wanted to contact me. She knows all about this place, but I don't think she believed me. I know the girls almost didn't believe me until Vincent opened the door," Devin explained as Catherine still sat with her head on Vincent's shoulder.

"Hey, do you still have the guest chamber where I can get some shut-eye?" Devin asked yawning.

Vincent knowing he would get no more out of his brother tonight said, "Yes, I made up the bed for you. Do you remember where it is?"

"Of course I do. Thank you."

Devin then kissed Catherine on the cheek and patted her belly and told them goodnight leaving them both with inquisitive looks on their faces.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the delay in updating this fic! I'm at a new job and working on three of these at the same time. Thank you to those who have enjoyed it so far! Please R & R.**

Take The Long Way Home - Chapter 3

Vincent and Catherine lay in bed later that same night. All was hushed and no sounds came from the children's chamber. The clock on the bedside table read 11:30 pm. It was late and Vincent was slated to teach an elder children's class in the morning and then go help extend another tunnel.

"What do you think of Devin's children?" Catherine asked her husband.

"I think they are beautiful little girls. What' on your mind, Catherine? I can sense it. Your curiosity is overwhelming."

"I'm just wondering about Devin's wife. I hope she's ok and can cope being alone and not hurt herself. You know, without letting depression get the best of her. I wonder at Devin leaving her alone like that. I don't think it was the wisest choice. Maybe he was just tired of the routine. He did say that the girls were not being properly cared for."

Yes well was all that Vincent had to say then he fell asleep leaving his wife contemplating how she could help Devin and his children return to his wife. Devin was obviously crying for help because he always returned home when he needed something like when he returned home with Charles in tow or the first time that Devin had come home because he had felt he had run away without knowing who he was. His children needed him and his mother. Catherine felt she may be able to help. She fell asleep forming a plan in her mind.

The next day found Catherine teaching a new basic law class for some of the young adults who were ready to transfer to the world above. Devin sat in on the class because he knew Catherine wanted to speak to him and he in turn wanted to speak with her.

Before he entered Catherine's class he accompanied Vincent to the extension work being done. He even helped. Devin had a slew of questions himself as to how Vincent finally agreed for Catherine to live Below and how they came to be married. Devin always knew Father was severely against Vincent having any kind of normal life because Father did not think it could happen for Vincent. Devin thought otherwise and always thought otherwise.

At the break in the action Vincent and Devin sat on a bench to have a drink.

"Vincent, how did you ever convince Father to let Catherine stay Below and get married? I thought you and she would never be together."

"If you have the time, it's a long story," Vincent warned.

"I'm not going anywhere. I saw the girls off to their classes. They couldn't believe they still had to go to school," Devin said chuckling a little. "Mary was good enough to guide them to the appropriate classes. Before we get to your story, what's the deal with her and Father?"

"That's another tale for sure. About three years ago Father went Above and lived with an old love he had from Ireland. She had been a photographer and very sophisticated unlike Mary, of course. So, eventually, Father felt too compelled to return here and he and his Irish love broke up. Mary, who had not taken Father's departure well at all was happy to have him return. She decided to tell Father of her feelings when returned. Mary ready to back Above; however, Mary had been part of a protest march when she was younger and she fled from the violence down here. Anyway Father realized he could not do without her and they married."

"Oh, that explains Mary creeping out of Father's chamber in the middle of the night," Devin laughingly said.

Vincent laughed as well. "Now I suppose you want me to speak about Catherine and me. It's a bit more graphic and violent then Father's."

"Hey, no fear I've seen it all."

"About 10 years ago, I had a complete breakdown with my psyche. I finally was able to reconcile the primal part of me with the human, conscious part of me."

Devin nodded for Vincent to go on even though it seemed that Vincent could not explain it all or he did not want to.

"Catherine saved me. I was a roaring lunatic. Catherine came into that cave where I thought I would just die and she saved me. She gave me physical human love."

"You mean you finally had sex?" Devin asked indelicately.

Vincent smirked and said "Shh..Devin. Yes. That's correct. We made love. Then Catherine went missing. She was gone for six months. I finally found her after she'd given birth to our firstborn, Jacob. She was being held captive herself until the baby was born by a horrid man named Gabriel. She was near death when I found her because the plan was to kill her so Gabriel could have our son because he knew his specialness and how unique Jacob's father was. While Catherine recovered here for three months, I finally found Jacob and brought him home."

"Did you have outside help?" Devin asked. "You must have had help. You could not have done all that research yourself."

"No we had the help of the DA's office; however, we found that the DA himself was part of the problem," Vincent continued.

"John Moreno? The John Moreno?" Devin inquired with highly raised eyebrows. He could not believe the duplicitousness of John Moreno his brief one-time boss.

Anyhow, three months after Catherine had given birth, I had some help with a good woman detective named Diana Bennett and, of course, Catherine's good friend Joe Maxwell who became DA. They both became Helpers and we were able to find Jacob. Diana killed Gabriel and I took Jacob from him and brought him home to Catherine. You see, Jacob was not well and needed his family. Once he was home with us Catherine nursed him back to health. By the time we decided to get married, Catherine was already pregnant with Jonathan."

"You glossed over many of the details, you know. I'm sure it's still too painful to talk about even after nine years."

"You'll have to pump my wife for details if you so desire. I know she is burning with questions for you."

Devin then laughed and said, "I guess old habits die hard. She'll be an investigator until the end."

So with that Devin departed and looked for Catherine winding up sitting in the back of the cave waiting for her class to end.

"Class dismissed," Catherine said rubbing her protruding belly unthinkingly. "Devin, I'm so glad you're here so I don't have to chase you down. I wanted to talk to you about Angela."

"Well, Vincent warned me you were burning with questions, Chandler. I can still call you that, right?"

"Sure it's still part of my name. I do use my married name when I go Above."

"So, if I asked your name Above, you would say 'Catherine Wells'?"

"Yes."

"Girl, you got guts."

"It's not guts, Devin. I'm married and I take it very seriously."

"Did Mary take Father's name when they got married?"

Catherine looked at him curiously. "How do you know about them?"

"Let's just say I came upon an almost embarrassing scene last night only to find out from Vincent that it is perfectly legal now."

Catherine rolled her eyes. She took Devin's arm for support and they walked to the kitchen chambers for a snack. They both said hello to William and he made sure he gave Catherine a glass of milk and a banana for her and the babies' healths.

"Wow, I can't believe the changes around here in 10 years. You and Vincent, I always knew you loved one another but I never thought Father would relent and let you live here. Do you still go Above once in a while?"

"Sure do. However, my closest friends like Jenny and Joe are Helpers now and know I Iive here."

"Vincent told me your story of being kidnapped and giving birth while in captivity and then being left to die not knowing where they took your baby. It must have been brutal for you to live through that."

"Yes, it was horrible. But it made me stronger and it helped build our relationship stronger where we learned to really, really count on each other."

Catherine took a sip of her milk and said, "Enough about me. What about you? Where's your home?"

"We live in the Pocono Mountains. Once Charles was better, I got married and returned to the mountains because Angela and I are both cold weather people. Angela is a wonderful woman when she is not depressed.

"Do you love her very much?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

"I know this may be none of my business, but if you love her so much,why did you leave her and take her children? I realize she wasn't living up to her maternal duties,but that is not the time to bail on her."

"I know, Catherine. I felt really bad after I left with the girls, but I was hoping she would call or want to contact me."

"I have an idea, Devin. I still have about a month before the babies arrive, and Vincent can care for our children. Why don't I go back home with you with or without the girls and maybe I can talk to Angela?" Catherine suggested hoping that Devin would not think it too nosy of her.

"Why? Did you ever miscarry or suffer a trauma where you could not function?"

Catherine stared at him firmly. "Well, if Vincent has already told you what happened to me you wouldn't be asking that question."

"He told me that it was your tale to tell. He glossed over any details."

"Let's just say it took me a long time before I was able to accept kindness from people and to look at my child again without remembering captivity and coldness and the people whom I had seen in nightmares"!

Devin placed his hand on her arm and he stated he was sorry and how terrible it must have been.

"Ok, how do we get up there?" Devin asked.

"I do still have a car, you know. It's at Joe's house. I'll call him from Mr. Wong's. I have to go up there and pick up Vincent's favorite tea anyway."

"Vincent has a favorite tea now?"

Catherine chuckled. "Ever since he went through his personality clash he changed a tiny bit. He was not afraid to say he loved me or show me or stand tall when there was something he did not want to do. He found his voice for himself." Catherine was proud to say.

"Well, he has changed more than I thought he had. I am glad to know this. Thank you for telling me. When do you want to see my wife?"

"Tomorrow too soon?"

"Vincent is going to let you go without him that easily?"

"Vincent doesn't know what I have planned yet. He also knows I don't always do what I am told. Besides he trusts you. He'll know I'm in good hands."

The next day they set off in Catherine's 1990 Ford Taurus. She put on her Above maternity clothes and a comfortable pair of shoes. Devin was dressed in his usual jeans and turtleneck sweater. He had quite a time with his daughters when he told them he was leaving to see how their mother fared.

"Daddy, why can't you take us?" Heather Marie asked. "Why does Aunt Catherine get to go and we don't?"

"Because Aunt Catherine thinks she can help mommy and maybe we can bring mommy here so she can meet Grandpa, Uncle Vincent, and your cousins. I hope that happens."

"Well can we stay here? Can we stay here permanently?" Miranda asked.

"Maybe, I don't know," Devin answered truthfully. "Sometimes it's not as easy you think to live here. There are rules for the Tunnel people as well those who live Above, so we would have to see. Maybe." Devin threw up his hands until he finally spotted his eldest daughter, Angelica looking on as he said his goodbyes.

"What is your objection to my leaving Angelica Wells?" Devin asked.

"No objection. I just hope that you can bring mom here and we can live here permanently."

Devin smiled and said, "Ok, group hug!"

All three girls put their arms around each other as best they could. Then Devin kissed each one more time and told them to be good for their Uncle Vincent.

They left early Wednesday morning and arrived at Devin's house in the Poconos around 4:00 pm. They had taken their time and Devin had not received a phone call back. He assumed Angela would have answered the phone being alone in the house. After the third time calling and no one picked up, Devin became concerned.

"She knows we're coming although she didn't say anything to me earlier in the day. I could only hear her breathing. Now I am really worried." Devin then sighed heavily. "Well, we don't have far to go. We only have an hour left."

When they arrived that Wednesday night (for the sun had set already), Devin used his key to open the door to his cabin-like home. Devin turned on the light and called to his wife. He turned to look at Catherine when he received no answer from Angela.

They both hurried into the bedroom where Angela lay in the bed very still.

"Angie?" Devin called once and turned her over and kissed her forehead and shook her a little bit to emit some type of response.

"Angie, we're here. I'm home. Wake up, sweetheart."

Catherine took Angie's wrist and felt she was cold to the touch.

Devin then put his ear to her heart and detected a heartbeat but it was faint and very slow as if she were in a coma. Catherine had managed to squeeze her wide pregnant girth between the bed and Angie's nightstand. She saw a prescription bottle with only two pills in it and it was tipped over.

"Devin, are these the pills she took?"

"Probably, She would never let me see them."

Catherine thought she would try a hand at reviving her.

"Angela, I'm your sister-in-law, Catherine. I am very pleased to meet you. Come on, wake up, honey, I would love to get to know you." Catherine kept talking while Devin contacted Angela's psychiatrist friend who had prescribed the pills.

"Yes, Greg, I think she has been taking more than what you prescribed. She hasn't made it out of bed in three weeks. She's breathing but she won't wake up. I have my sister-in-law here to help."

"No, she's not a nurse, but she's a lawyer!" Devin hung up the phone soundly.

"Greg has called an ambulance for her. It is possible she's been overdosing the last three weeks.

"Why did you tell him I was a lawyer?"

"Well, aren't you?"

"Yes, in New York. I haven't taken the bar for PA."

"Well, he doesn't know that," Devin said.

"Ok, Gotcha!" Catherine responded.

Once the ambulance arrived. the paramedics put Angela on oxygen which seemed to help rouse her. She looked wildly around and being a nurse knew exactly what they were doing to her. She pulled at the oxygen mask and Devin helped to take it off.

"What are you doing here? Where am I going?"

"You've been sleeping for over three days. You were almost gone," Devin said.

"Yes, that's what I wanted," Angela started to cry.

It was an unusual ride to the hospital. The same hospital where she worked. So it was a horrible surprise when the paramedics carried in one of their own. Devin followed holding her hand. Catherine arrived a short time later. They almost mistook Catherine for the patient with her large pregnancy bump. The emergency staff hustled to make Angela comfortable and peaceful. They were able to find her a private room immediately and that's when Devin explained to her about everything and who Catherine was.

"Angela, I am so pleased to meet you. I have known Devin a long time now and I think you were probably the best thing that ever happened to him. I met your daughters and they are lovely and wonderful children. My kids are already attached to them. I am hoping you can come and visit when you're out of the hospital."

Angela just turned over and stared at the IV dripping into her arm.


	4. Chapter 4

Take the Long Way Home – Chapter 4

Angela woke up two days later fully conscious. She had been drifting in and out and knew that not only her husband was there but her sister-in-law whom she had never known about until she introduced herself. Heck, she did not even know Devin had a brother until he mentioned it before he took their girls and left their home. Angela was not going to be placated by her very pregnant sister-in-law, Catherine Wells, no matter what she and her husband had thought. When asked, Angela did a very good job of being speechless. She really was disappointed that she was still alive because the pain never went away. Her little baby boy was gone and it had been her fault so she thought.

Catherine sat on the chair next to the window in the hospital cafeteria. They had spent a comfortable two nights at Devin's little home, but Catherine was despaired of how to help. She was not a psychiatrist or a psychology. She knew she could be a good listener. She knew that especially when she worked the suicide hotline all those years ago and convinced a young woman to not do herself in but to find refuge in the Tunnels for her and her baby. Leyna, the young girl who had found refuge in the Tunnels had a 10 year old daughter, Catherine, who at only a year older than Jacob was a good friend. Little Catherine had also made friends with Devin's oldest Angelica who was more than happy to know there were girls old enough to be her friends. Catherine had tried tell Angela this but she would just turn over and be silent.

"Penny for your thoughts," Devin said as he sat across from Catherine. Devin looked at Catherine to see if she was weary and tired from the situation they found two days ago. She looked a little weary to Devin, so took her back to his house and set her up in one of the girls' rooms so she could rest. Vincent would have his head if anything happened to his wife or the babies she carried.

"Sure. Here you go," Catherine joked as she handed Devin a penny which he left on the table between them.

Devin chuckled. "Very funny."

After a moment of silence where Devin just sat there nursing a cup of coffee, he decided he needed to apologize for the situation.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think it would be this bad," Devin apologized. "Have you spoken with Vincent yet?"

"Yes, I spoke to him on Mr. Wong's phone. He said everything back at home is good. He's praying like we all are that Angela will snap out of this depression.

"That's great. I have learned that prayer does really help. It just doesn't always do it in the time frame we want."

Catherine snickered and said, "You got that right. However, God does have us all in his hands." Catherine reached out to Devin and clasped his arm which was bent on the top of the table.

"Do you want anything?" Catherine asked.

"Just my wife to come back to me. That's all," Devin answered lowering his head trying to hide his sad face from Catherine.

"I understand."

"You're eating at least," Devin said looking at the dirtied plate with eaten eggs and a half consumed piece of toast with jelly.

"Well, if I don't, I'm sure I'll hear it from you. You already lectured me four times for skipping a couple of meals yesterday," Catherine smiled back at Devin.

"Vincent will literally kill me if anything happens to you or your babies," Devin said. "Catherine, I have an idea that might help Angela. I need to get it approved by Greg, her shrink, but I think we could persuade him."

"What's that?"

"I just want you to go into room and start talking about what you went through when you were kidnapped and how you had to give birth and thought you were going to die when it was all over. Mainly I want to get to the part where you became hopeful again. Vincent said it was your tale to tell and I think it may just help Angela know that if you can surmount an obstacle like that with love and understanding she can as well."

"I don't know. Parts of the story, I still have a difficult time telling…." Catherine hesitated biting her lip.

Devin clasped her hand.

"Please. I know down deep Angela's sympathy and desire to help others is still there. I need, though, for her to focus on herself and know that I am here…we are all here to help her."

Catherine thought about it a little longer and then said. "Of course. If you think it will help, I can do it."

Dr. Greg Filiipo approved the treatment that Devin thought may work. However, Greg did warn that some parts of Catherine's story, if as gruesome as he thinks, may make Angela feel even worse. Devin, who felt he knew his wife better than her doctor, suspected and hoped the opposite would take effect.

It was the next afternoon after lunch that Catherine and Devin decided to spring this story on Angela. She was still restricted to that floor only as she was still considered a suicide threat. Not that Angela really minded. She was just as happy lying there in bed not thinking. Her mind did not dwell on her lost baby, her husband, her three little girls, nor her sister-in-law who was eager to help her out of this funk. Angela had decided after the latest fouled suicide attempt that she would wait until another opportunity to try again. First, she had to fake getting better before she would be released from watchful custody.

"Hi, Angela," Catherine said. "I hope you don't mind if I take a seat. You know how cumbersome this far along can be."

Catherine sat in her chair carefully and then Devin was good enough to put her feet up on another chair.

"Make yourself at home, of course, Catherine," Angela said sarcastically. She sat in bed with her arms crossed and slightly soured expression to her husband who stood on the other side of the bed.

"Angela…" Devin warned.

"No, I'm sorry. I know you're only trying to help me. Please don't mind me," Angela said a little more friendly.

"No worries," Catherine said and adjusted her feet and seat a little more comfortably.

"Please tell me your tale," Angela said sarcastically not expecting anything tumultuous from the tale itself.

Catherine swallowed hard at that remark but was determined to tell it. If this weren't for the agony on Devin's face, she would have given up and state emphatically she was returning home to wait the few days until her babies were to come.

"Ok, Angela, what I am going to tell you would probably be more understandable if you knew who my husband was and what he looked like, but that has to be left for another time."

"Angela, my son Jacob who is 9 was born while I was being held in a skyscraper. They were sure to not let me anywhere near windows or any way with which to communicate to the outside. When I was first pregnant, my captors had not realized it. They fed me morphine in gobs until I vomited it. I was tied up and smacked asking where the book was and if I knew anything. I learned a lot of what was going on but I refused to say anything. They tied me up daily and pumped me daily. Then they learned I was pregnant. Through my drug infected haze, I tried to pipespeak my location to Vincent who had been ill and could not locate where I was. Has Devin mentioned Vincent and our connection?"

"He did." Angela said and thought it was bunch of junk. However, the more Catherine told the more Angela was becoming intrigued.

"Then a couple of months later I tried to get a message outside by giving it to my nurse only to be betrayed by her because she gave it to the man who held me captive. By this point I did have a plain white hospital room and I was fed enough for me and the baby because I was pretty huge with Jacob. They did give me a small window but it was up so high that no one would have spotted a hugely pregnant woman dressed in only a white hospital gown. They had given up questioning me about what I knew and was more concerned about my baby. They knew that Vincent was the father and the head captor, Gabriel, was his name I later discovered wanted my child for himself because he thought it would make him powerful or have a powerful heir-some horrible nonsense. Well, since I knew what everyone looked like I knew they would kill me after the baby was born. I was nothing more than a vessel kept alive only to give birth to a child that I loved and wanted but to give to a sick, psychotic man as a prize."

Catherine shivered as she retold that part and Devin could see that Angela was becoming sympathetic as she had reached out a hand to Catherine to comfort her.

Angela wiped away a tear from her eyes and Devin did, too. He also put a hand on Catherine's shoulder and said she did not have to continue if she did not want to.

"I had not realized how painful the story really was," he said feeling insensitive to his sister-in-law.

"No, it's ok. I've made my peace with what happened to me and out of it came the most joy I have ever had in my life," Catherine said holding Devin's hand and smiling through her tears.

"Well, about a month later, I'm assuming, I went into labor. I tried to hide from the camera they had installed in my room so they could keep a watchful eye on me. The nurse came in to give me a meal and I tried to stand up tall, but my water broke then and my hiding was all over. She came and a couple of orderlies came and took me up to the cold, clinical delivery room." Catherine shivered again remembering the horrific pain and knowledge that the end was near and that Vincent would never know they had made a beautiful child together in that cave that once long ago lost night of the soul. I was not given any pain medication and Jacob was very stubborn in coming into the world. Also there were alarms blaring and I heard Vincent coming for me. He had found me! I thought now everything would be all right. Jacob still was not coming fast enough so they ordered a C-Section. Well, my son must have known something was wrong because then he was born fast and furiously."

Angela held the sheet to her mouth and tried to stem tears of sympathy falling from her eyes and she listened to Catherine's tale.

"I am so sorry for you, Cathy," Angela said in true sympathy. "Can I call you Cathy?"

"Sure. I'd love it if you would," Catherine said reaching out with her own hand to grasp Angela's.

"I hope you don't mind telling me what happens next," Angela said.

"No, because the good surprising part comes next. Although it did take me a long time before I felt it had been good. You'll see what I mean."

"I begged to see my son because I knew I would never get to hold him. I just wanted to see who he looked like. So the doctor held him out for inspection. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. He had just a little tuft of strawberry blonde hair on his head and the biggest bluest eyes. Then the doctor handed the nurse my baby and I could hear through my haze a helicopter, so I could feel that the next step was to get rid of me and let me die there."

Catherine wiped some of her own tears away and took a grateful sip of water that Devin had magically handed her.

"Then the first real surprise hit me. It was the doctor. He looked behind him and he said, 'I'm supposed to give you a fatal shot of morphine so you die peacefully. However, I can't do that. I refuse to do this even if my life ends for you. I will try to get a message to you concerning the whereabouts of your child as soon as I know. Now, I am warning you. Get to a doctor as soon as possible because you have not delivered the placenta yet. If that stays in you, you will get very, very sick. I am giving you a shot of antibiotic which should help prevent any real infection. Remain here until you think it is safe. There are working phones on the bottom floor if you can get there.'

'"I can trust you? You're not just telling me that so I'm not scared?" I asked him.

"No, you can trust me. Now I have to go. Gabriel will wonder why it's taking so long. Good Luck and May God be with you."' He finished."

"So I waited a good few minutes. I knew Vincent was near because I could feel him even if he could no longer feel me. I went to the roof despite what the doctor had ordered. There was the second surprise: Vincent. On the roof. I called to him and he caught me before I fell to the ground. I told him what happened and what the doctor said to me about the placenta. That's when I knew I was safe and I could rest, so I think I passed out and Vincent carried me all the way back to my apartment and called Peter my Obgyn and good friend. I had learned many months previously that Peter and Father attended medical school together. Anyway, once Peter got there, he delivered the placenta and gave me another dose of antibiotic and then had Vincent watch me for a couple of days. That's when I shut off. I became afraid again and distrustful of anyone. I did not want to see my friends to let them know I was home. Vincent even said Peter would be happy to call Joe and Jenny. You see, my only living relative, my father died the year before Jacob's birth. So I did not have relatives looking for me."

Angela was now making no secret of the tears that fell from her eyes. All she could do was look to Devin for guidance.

"Oh….boy," Catherine said as she took a deep breath. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh, what?" asked Devin hoping she was not going to say what he thought she was going to say.

"Uh…I think I just had a contraction," Catherine said.

"Oh, boy," was all Devin could respond.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi I apologize for the tardiness of this update. I have been busy working on my Darvey (Suits) fan fics, but I did promise myself to work on this one as well. Please enjoy and R & R. They really encourage to me to continue! Love - Carebearmaxi.**

Take The Long Way Home - Chapter 5

"I think I'd better go, Devin," Catherine said taking a gasp of air before getting up.

"Why don't you just go to the maternity ward?" asked Angela.

"If you knew what Vincent looked like and what his children may look like, you wouldn't be asking," Devin said.

"Mmhmm," mumbled Catherine. "Wooo, I think that may have been only a Braxton-Hicks. I seem to get a lot of them with this pregnancy."

"Oh, I got a lot of those with HeatherMarie. Then, I..." said Angela remembering her own plight and the reasons she was here.

Catherine rose and was able to walk to the door of the room.

"I'm going to the lounge. I think Angela may have something to tell you, Devin."

Angela looked up at her husband and he came over to the bed and sat down.

"What is it you have to tell me?"

Angela said,"I want to go home and I want to go back with you when you take Catherine back to the Tunnels and pick up our girls."

Devin smiled and put a hand on his wife's cheek looking into her green eyes.

"Ok. Deal. Who do I have to call?"

"I'll call Greg and have him discharge me," Angela said as she held Devin's hand in hers. She kissed him and stroked his jaw.

"You need a shave, my love," she said.

"You think I'm hairy? Wait until you see my brother." Devin joked and they both laughed.

While Catherine was in the lounge, she called Mr. Wong whose niece said she would get the message to Vincent that his wife, his brother, and probably his sister-in-law were returning the next day.

She hung up the payphone and saw that Devin had come to fetch her as they were all three leaving the hospital. Greg had immediately contacted the doctor on duty and said to immediately discharge her. Angela was so glad that there would be no complications to her discharge. As she had joked to Catherine and Devin that working there had given her a definite advantage.

After bringing Angela back to the house, they all ate a small meal and as the clock ticked Catherine volunteered to tell Angela the rest of her story. They were starting out for New York and The Tunnels in the morning so Catherine promised to make it a brief narrative. Angela seemed happy enough but since they had returned to her home, her face had returned to the pained expression they had seen the day before.

Before journeying back to the Tunnels, Angela wanted to dress appropriately and bring a small change of clothes; she packed a small suitcase for herself. She inquired if Angelica, Miranda, and HeatherMarie needed anything, but Catherine said if they did they could borrow it from the them. There were more than a few little girls that could accommodate her three should they need anything before they eventually returned home.

"We also wash our clothes, you know. I usually take the laundry to Mr. Wong's or up to my old apartment building. I still have the lease and sometimes Vincent and I will go there to have a "date night". We've been married for ten years and we have three children and help the community, so sometimes we don't always have time for ourselves like before," Catherine explained.

"Yes, I do realize that . Same thing happens to us. That's when I usually call my mother to come babysit for a while," Angela volunteered. Angela was still feeling depressed but upon meeting Catherine and seeing her husband again and knowing that her daughters were all well the depression did not feel quite as immediate as it had the last few weeks. Angela felt energetic now, especially, when it seemed that Catherine was starting to labor with her twins. Here was something in which she could help. Catherine, Angela evaluated, was a warm feeling woman who had this uncanny knack to make you feel peaceful. It was the feeling she had first felt upon meeting Devin. It must be the Tunnels where the society was a helpful one and conflicts were handled in final and specific methods.

As they sat in the living room after their dinner, Catherine was invited to continue to tell her tale and how she came out of her post natal depression after giving birth to Jacob in captivity.

Devin said, "Vincent mentioned to me that you had some outside help from Joe and Jenny, and a Diana Bennett?"

Catherine nodded and tried to assume a more comfortable position as the twins seemed to be having a wrestling match in their mother's womb.

"Did you see that?"

"What?" Angela had asked to Devin's question.

"I swear I just saw a hand poke through Catherine's belly," Devin said.

"It's not unusual, but those two seemed to having a real battle, Cathy," Angela said and went over to Catherine as she sat on their couch and placed a hand on her belly.

"These are definitely a set of knuckles or the umbilical cords," Angela laughingly said. "They seemed to have calmed."

"Yes, I feel like my insides have been bruised with their knocking each other out," Catherine joked. "I only have a month to go and I will be so glad when this is over. Then I am done!"

"You'll have five children then, right?"

"Oh, yes! When Vincent and I started out we were surprised I got pregnant at all!"

"You'll understand when you see him," Devin said.

"Yes, people keep telling me that," Angela mumbled. _How different could he be?_

Catherine tried to reach her tea at that point and it was proving difficult as her large belly prevented her from reaching very far. Luckily, Devin had seen her struggle and gave it to her.

Catherine took a sip and continued her difficult tale.

"I came home to my apartment and stayed there for about a month. Vincent had had to go home and he would return. I told him one day not to return because I no longer wanted his company. I felt our child was gone and I had failed him and me and that I was no longer worth loving."

"Well, if I know Vincent, he was very persistent," Devin said.

Catherine screwed her face and said, "Yes and no. He was determined to find Jacob. He now had a connection with Jacob much like the one he had with me. As it turns out the connection or feeling of my heartbeat had returned but Vincent had a stronger one with Jacob. That's how Vincent knew where he was."

"Anyway, I did not go back to work. I just stayed in my apartment. Joe had visited me several times and volunteered to find my son. He had heard of a woman named Diana Bennett and she was an ex-FBI detective and had become a specialist in finding missing children. She was an oddball and did things her own way, but Joe really wanted me to meet her and see if she could help."

"Did you agree to see her on the first request?" Angela asked.

"Of course not. I didn't tell Vincent either because I'm sure he would have been afraid of anyone else knowing who he was and what he looked like and where the Tunnels were."

"Another few weeks went by and I was still depressed, so Joe took it upon himself to bring Diana Bennett to my apartment to meet me. That's when I knew I would have to have her meet Vincent because then she would understand the attraction of our child to Gabriel."

Catherine paused and yawned. It was catchy as she watched Devin yawn and then Angela. They all laughed about yawning together, but Angela pleaded for Catherine to finish her story.

"Diana and Vincent met and she found him as wonderful and intelligent and human as I did. She had said compared to the criminals and the sadists she had met in her line of work the last person in the world to be afraid of was someone who looked like Vincent."

"Anyway, I was more moodier, angrier, more depressed, and nastier than I had ever remembering being in my life except for the time I was accused of being a snob when I was a child because my dad gave me everything and I could not understand or did not want to understand that there were those less fortunate than me. I thought I was better. Getting back to my depression, Peter had prescribed some antidepressants for me, but I never got the prescription filled. I was so far gone that when I had heard that my friend Elliot Burch had been killed in the line of trying to expose John Moreno and his dealings with Gabriel I just chalked it up to Elliot's stupidity in never stop wanting me to marry him. It seemed that John Moreno and this little black book that Joe had given to me had all the names of an inner ring of a political and criminal mafioso. Joe who had given me the book was supposed to have died in an explosion but he did not. At the time he had no idea what that book entailed, so when he found out about the baby and what had happened to me because I wanted to help my friend he acted out of guilt. He tried everything to launch me out of my depression."

"So what happened?" Devin and Angela both wanted to know because the way Catherine described herself at that time was a far cry from the person they encountered now.

"Vincent, again. He had been working with Diana. Joe still did not know about Vincent or met him. Until one day when Vincent had had an increasing connection with Jacob. He felt his heart was beating very slowly one day and that to Vincent that meant our son was ill. He went to the last location where his heart led him and was shot by one of the guards to the building after Vincent went on a rampage and took a few of them out."

Angela did not quite understand but she just kept her questions to herself and assumed that she would know better once she met this incredibly different brother-in-law of hers.

"This time, Father came to see me. He hardly ever goes above, so I was surprised to see him. He told me that Vincent had been shot and needed me. So I forgot to be nasty and depressed and self-absorbing. My man needed me, so there I went to him. It was touch and go for a few days but Vincent seems to heal very fast and was off again to find our son just like he sought me out for six months."

Catherine wiped away a tear as she thought of how incredibly brave was her husband.

"Are you tired?" Devin asked. "You can continue in the morning if you want?"

"No," Catherine gently protested requesting more tea. "I'm almost to the happy ending or beginning."

"When Vincent was so ill, that was when I decided it was time for Joe to meet Vincent because I had intended never to go above again unless it was to bring my son home. Diana brought Joe down to the Tunnels and Vincent's chamber to meet him. Needless to say every lie I ever told about how some of the criminals came to be in their condition illuminated in Joe's mind and he tackled me about everything. He thought there was something wrong with me and he said he would never tell anyone but he wanted nothing to do with me."

"I told Joe if he couldn't find sympathy or empathy in his heart then he was not the man I thought he was and for whom my child was kidnapped. I had told him that once Vincent was in better shape they could talk and get to know each other. Joe Maxwell is a very kind man but he has some sharp chips on his shoulder because his father, a New York cop, died in the line of duty when Joe was only 10 years old."

"I didn't know that, Chandler. I knew he was passionate and almost zealot like in his work, but I had no idea his father had been a cop." Devin sat back and put a pensive look on his face as he thought of the man he had met and worked with over ten years ago when Devin was posing as a lawyer.

"Eventually Vincent recovered and he again felt Jacob's heartbeat start to slow. I was not in any condition myself to go on a wild goose chase as Peter had said I was still bleeding too heavily. Now, mind you, it had been eight weeks after Jacob's birth and I was still having bleeding issues. Peter had had to give me a transfusion a few days before this event, so I agreed that I was too weak. However, I felt Vincent was too weak as well and wanted him to stay and let Diana do her work. Well, I guess you can figure what happened..."

"Vincent went anyway, didn't he?" Angela asked.

"Yes, you're getting to know him pretty well from my story, aren't you?" Catherine asked smiling at her sister-in-law. Catherine's green eyes were shining and at that moment she was missing her husband very much.

"Well, Vincent went. He found Gabriel who captured Vincent and put him in a cell from what Vincent had told me. Gabriel and he had played a cat-and-mouse game where one would bait the other. Vincent told me that Jacob knew his father was there because he could feel his little heartbeat growing stronger the closer he got to our son. Finally, Diana got to the nursery and caught Gabriel attemting to smother my baby with a...pillow," Catherine paused and took a long sip of her tea which had become cold in the telling.

"Vincent came to tell me how he had broken out of the cell and retrieved our son. He also told me that Diana had my gun trained on Gabriel and shot the sorry SOB in the head. She thought it was only fair that I get some kind of retribution for what he put me through and our son."

"I was still weak and I was now on bedrest because I still had not stopped bleeding. Peter had said that I probably would need a hysterectomy if I not stopped bleeding soon. When Vincent returned with our son, he gently woke me up and put him in my arms. He was hungry and, unfortunately, I could no longer breastfeed him because my milk had come and gone. So I had to feed him on formula which really seem to help him."

"So now I assume that everything was ok?" Angela said.

"Nope. I was still bleeding which led to an hormonal imbalance which caused the continuation of my depression. It was so bad that the initial wonderful feelings I had to hold my baby again and feed him left me. This was about a month later, Vincent and I had come to share his chamber and we put Jacob in a cradle that Kanin had made for his son. Do you remember Kanin, Devin or had you gone by the time he came to live in the Tunnels?" Catherine asked and changed her position to ease her sciatica nerve which was hurting.

"No, but I did see how he turned himself in many years back after he had been exposed as the driver in a hit and run."

"Yes, that was so sad. Well he served his time and he's back a few years now. He got paroled after six years. He has a son and a daughter now. You remember, Olivia, right? She was born in the Tunnels like you."

Devin squinted his eyes and thought. "Yes, she always had long black hair. So they only have two children?"

"You've gotta remember, Devin. He was gone for six years."

"Yes, of course."

"So one night Jacob was crying to be fed and I didn't get up. Vincent rose and took care of Jacob and soon he was taking care of Jacob full time. I didn't seem to care."

"What happened then?"

"I left and went back above for about a month until Vincent came above and spoke to me so harshly that I started throwing things at him trying to drive him away. I told him I didn't want him around and that he could raise Jacob all by himself. I was going to run away and that I no longer wanted anything to do with anyone in the Tunnels."

"What did Vincent do?"

Catherine busted out in a great big laugh after that.

"He said, 'Well that's too bad because I finally found the courage to ask you to marry me and live with me in the Tunnels where we can both raise our son.'"

"So I stopped throwing objects at him and something seemed to break within me. I felt released. I think I said something stupid like, "You want me to marry you?" To which he smiled fully and said, 'Yes, I do.'"

"Then I assume you said 'yes'?" Angela asked wiping a tear from her eye.

"You betcha! I ran into his arms and he kissed me and that night I went back to the Tunnels and never returned above to live permanently. Eventually Joe forgave me and had had a proper talk with Vincent. I then resigned from the D.A's office permanently. Joe and his wife came to our wedding. Diana came to our wedding. Jenny came to our wedding. She's married too now, Devin. I gather you didn't know that."

"No. That's great," Devin then turned to his wife and said, "Jenny and I used to date for a little while. We had books in common and I think we based our whole relationship on the books we read. I think we would still be good friends. We just didn't click romantically."

"Well, I'm glad about that," Angela said and went over to Devin's chair and kissed him on the cheek. Devin pulled Angela onto his lap and then Catherine rose and said.

"I think that's a signal that you two may need some catching up, and I need some sleep. These two have kept up their wrestling match the whole time I was talking. Good night you two." Catherine gave them each a kiss on the cheek and went into the Angelica's bedroom where she had slept the night before.

Angela and Devin continued their "catching up" and then decided the rest of the conversation was better told in their bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

**HI! I apologize for not updating this one long before this! I've been full of writing my DARVEY (Suits) fics. However, here's another chapter. Please read and review if you still are reading. Thank you! Not so long next time...I promise! - Carol**

Take The Long Way Home - Chapter 6

Catherine awoke at the alarm. It had been set for 7:00 am. She could smell bacon frying and figured that either Devin was cooking or Angela. It was probably Devin. He always loved to cook and he said he had learned at the foot of best meaning, of course, William, the Tunnels' Chief Cook.

"Uh-oh, hey babies it's a little early to start wrestling in mama's belly, don't you think?"

Then a unmistakable cramp like feeling came and went.

"Uh-oh, you guys want to come today?" Catherine asked talking to her protruberant belly. "This is not the day guys. We're going home. Can't you wait until daddy can be with us?"

Just as if on cue, Catherine inhaled swiftly and grabbed the bedsheet as a piercing labor pain pulled her focus away from the plans that had been made.

"Rise and shine, Chandler, it's breakfast time," Devin burst in through the bedroom door. Upon seeing her pained expression knew they were not going anywhere today.

"Angela? Are you up, honey? We need you," Devin called out for his wife. He praised God he had married a nurse. Although he had actually performed a Caesearan to save a woman's life, it had been a long time ago and he really did not want to do it again. He especially did not desire the experience again as this time the woman was his sister-in-law.

Angela directed herself to Devin standing at the doorway of Angelica's room and knew it was not good news that he wanted to convey. Angela had been taking a shower and rubbing her long dark curly hair with a towel. However, upon seeing her husband's pained expression, she tossed the towel on the couch of the living room as she passed it by.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm in labor," Catherine said looking up at her sister-in-law as she lay in the bed gripping the bedsheets.

"Ok, how far apart are they?" Angela asked all business.

"About five...," Catherine stopped as she held onto Devin's hand this time as a contraction hit her.

Angela looked at Devin and she smiled and said, "Well, I guess we're not going anywhere soon. Don't you worry, Catherine, you are in good hands." Angela walked out of the bedroom and decided she would phone for an ambulance.

As soon as Devin heard her on the phone, he jumped from Catherine's side and stopped his wife in the nick of time.

"Devin, why?"

"You can't do that, Angela. I was hoping that I would not have to explain until we got back to the Tunnels but that looks like it is off the table for now."

"Devin, she's having twins. She could bleed out. She said before she had had complications."

"Yes, but I think she meant by the way her child looked not for how the baby was born," Devin placated.

"Devin! Angela!" Catherine cried from the bedroom.

They both ran into the small room which was decorated with pink ponies and purple ribbons-definitely a feminine room.

"Call Peter Alcott, Devin. You remember him, right? Father's friend from medical school?"

"Yes, do you have his number?" Devin asked.

"In my phone book in my purse," Catherine explained and grimaced as another pain hit her.

Angela came in and explained that she was could do an internal to see how dilated she was. If she was not too dilated they may be able to make the five hour journey back to New York and The Tunnels or to Catherine's apartment, at least.

"Angela, there's something you have to know about my last two births. Despite how long it took for Jacob to be born. Jonathan and Mary took about ten hours each. I am only scared if we attempt to get back to New York the twins will be born in the car and I may not be able to take them to the hospital."

Angela took a rubber glove out of her medical bag. She kept them for emergencies just like a doctor. She raised the blanket and noticed how wet the bed was.

"Your water broke. Did you not feel that?" Angela asked.

"Yes, it just broke when you came in here," Catherine explained.

"Ok, I know this isn't comfortable, but heels together and breathe through it," Angela said as she took her finger and inserted into Catherine's vagina to measure the dilation of Catherine's cervix."

"Well, you are totally effaced which means the babies will be coming down the birth canal as soon as your a little more dilated. Right now you are about a five. We have several more hours to go unless your labor speeds up," Angela said all business like.

Devin came in then and handed the phone to Catherine who pointed at Angela as she was in the middle of a labor pain. Devin questioning handed the phone to his wife.

"Hello, Dr. Alcott? This is Angela Wells, Devin's wife. I am a fully trained R.N. and I specialize in delivering babies, so I would really appreciate it if you good get up here in case there are any real complications. However, if you can't I am pretty sure I can handle it."

"Thank you, Angela. I am on my way as we speak. I should be out there in a few hours. I had a luncheon date in Philadelphia, so I am not too far out. I will contact Vincent and the family and let them know what is happening. Until then you know what to do, but if something comes up and you need to speak with me, I do have a beeper."

"Thank you, Dr. Alcott. I am looking forward to meeting you."

"Thank God Devin married a nurse," Peter said as he hung up the phone.

Peter had contacted Father and Vincent by way of Mr. Wong's phone. Vincent came to the line and Peter explained that Catherine had gone into labor and was probably not going to deliver them at home as they had originally expected. Vincent wanted desperately to be by her side and he could feel the fear she had because of unfamiliar surroundings and a person who was not prepared for what the children could look like. It was the same fear he knew only on a grander scale when she had given birth to Jacob. He somehow had to get there.

"Peter, do you have a way to get me there so Catherine isn't afraid?"

"Oh, Vincent. I don't think I have any way of getting you there. I'm in Philadelphia right now. Besides she's in good hands, Vincent, she's had three other children," Peter said logically.

"That's not why Catherine is afraid. She's in Pittsburgh with Devin and his wife and she and I have not met. You said yourself that one of the children looks like me from what you could tell from the Ultrasound."

"I am not dismissing your concerns, Vincent. I understand them. She'll be fine. I'm sure Devin and Catherine have giving Devin's wife some understanding of the situation at hand. Take comfort, Vincent. I would never let anything happen to your wife."

Vincent hung up the phone and returned Below and gathered his children as well as his nieces to let them know what was happening in Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, Devin had informed Catherine that Peter was on his way and that Peter had talked to Vincent who was practically jumping out of his skin with wanting to be with her.

"I'm sure Peter told him that was impossible," Catherine said as Angela timed another contraction and put a cold compress on her head as she was starting to go into transition already.

Angela looked at her husband while Catherine's eyes were shut and silently told him that she was worried. She feared that Peter would not come in time or Catherine's labor would stop altogether or one of the babies would be breach. Angela would not have worried so much if someone had told her what was so unique about her brother-in-law to prevent his wife from giving birth in a hospital especially acknowledging the fact that it was a high risk pregnancy.

Angela looked at her watch.

"You seem to be contracting pretty regularly at 3 minutes, so I'm going to do another internal. You were only five a few hours ago and the pains seem to be getting more painful, aren't they?"

Catherine smacked her lips together and nodded as she gripped the thin sheet which covered her bottom.

"Ok, contraction seems over. Just one more time for this, I promise, before Peter gets here. You are such a brave woman, Catherine, to be giving birth without your husband here, to twins without an epidural. I think I'm going to pin a medal on you. With my girls, I was screaming for an epidural when my pains barely began," Angela joked as she put on another rubber glove and prepared to do the exam.

"You're joking, Angie. You're a nurse. I wouldn't imagine you would be screaming for an epidural," Catherine said blowing out a breath while she was between contractions.

"Uh, no, she's not," Devin interjected. "It seems it is always the ones in the medical field that do the most screaming..."

"Hey!" Angela smiled back. "Ok, heels together and breathe through it"

When Angela took her hand away, she was very surprised. Then Catherine grimaced again and Angela said, "It's ok to scream, if it hurts. I would rather you try to breathe, but you're ten centimeters and you're going to have these babies before Peter gets here!"

"No, that can't happen. What if..." Catherine inhaled sharply. "Oh my...oh, huh...God it really hurts!"

"Calm down, Cathy. It will only feel worse. You don't feel like pushing yet, do you?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, if you do, it's ok you're ready to go," Angela said patting her sister-in-law on the arm. "Will you be ok if I leave for a minute. I'm not going far."

"Yes, I'm not going anywhere," Catherine said and ran her hand over her belly.

Angela left the bedroom to get a cup of coffee and find her husband. Devin looked up as she walked through the small kitchen doorway.

"Everything status quo?" Devin asked seeing the concern in his wife's eyes.

"She's ten centimeters and she can start pushing anytime. I was just hoping that Peter would get here quicker in case of a real emergency."

"What do you mean?" Devin asked placing his hands on his wife's shoulders and gently massaged.

"She's starting to bleed pretty heavily. There should not be a lot of blood before the babies get here. I'm afraid it could be placenta previa, so I'm not doing anymore internals. I felt bad because I did the first two. I hope I didn't hurt her in anyway."

Devin, although not having had the medical training his wife did, had been able to retain some of what he had come to learn from his extensive reading. In his past life as a drifter, he had faked being a doctor, a lawyer, and other many other occupations well enough to cause good results; moreover, he was aware of what danger Catherine and the babies were in if his wife's diagnosis was correct.

"Let's hope there's not much traffic getting out of Philadelphia," Devin said trying to comfort his wife while they heard Catherine scream with another contraction.


	7. Chapter 7

HI! We're almost to the end of this one. So I hope you like the events in this chapter. R&R if you want. Thanks so much for reading - Carebearmaxi

Take The Long Way Home -Chapter 7

It had been a couple of hours now since Peter Alcott had left Philadelphia. He knew that it was approximately three more hours until he was in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. He was buzzed only a half hour ago to which he had made a stop and phoned Angela Wells. She told him that Cathy had started bleeding pretty badly and that the first baby's head was down; however, she was afraid that the placenta may be blocking the birth canal and that's why she was bleeding badly. Peter knew he could not risk taking Cathy to a hospital for an emergency C-Section because of what he feared at least who one of the children resembled. He could not make a real diagnosis until he arrived at the Wells' residence up in the moutainous part of Pittsburgh.

Peter had also contacted Vincent via Mr. Wong's telephone and that also worried Peter because Vincent was liable to lose reason and try to make it himself to Pittsburgh to be with Cathy. She was his wife, after all, and those two babies were his as well and their connection was unfathomable; so Peter knew also in light of their history together that Vincent was not going to be without Catherine ever again if he could really help it. Hopefully the pull of his three young children at home with him restrained him from doing anything truly foolish and life threatening.

All Peter could do was keep driving and try to concentrate on what he could do if Angela Wells' diagnosis was correct.

Meanwhile the couple of hours that Peter was on the road coming to her seemed like an eternity to Catherine. She had had several contractions and especially a hard one where she had to start pushing. Catherine lay with her legs apart and had felt wet all over her bottom. Angela finally sitting at the foot of the bed sat with a gloved hands waiting for the first baby's head to come out more. Cathy knew that Angela was worried because of all the blood and that's when Angela had decided to inform Cathy of what she thought the issue may have been. Catherine stated succinctly that she knew that couldn't be the problem because she had had monthly checkups up until a week ago when Peter starting making them weekly. Catherine was not the only pregnant woman in the tunnels at the moment, but she was one of the most special needing specialty treatment directly from the obstetrician from above.

"Your labor has slowed a little bit, hasn't it?" Angela asked waiting with waiting fingers to help deliver the first baby whose head was nearing Cathy's opening. She could feel it and she wanted Catherine to push on her next contraction, but it seemed that it had been forever since the last push.

"I don't feel as much pain as frequently. Isn't it odd that it stops now? Right before the first...ooo...perhaps I spoke to soon," Catherine said with swift intake of breath.

"Would you prefer to sit up more? I think that might help you push the babies out a little easier," Angela suggested.

"Ok," Catherine agreed.

Calling on Devin's assistance, they both helped scoot Cathy to the end of the bed propping her up on a cushioned pillow rest which was sturdy and maintained Catherine's comfort while her legs rested on end tables constructed of very hard wood. With her feet in the first drawers of each night table, Catherine had the sudden need to push making use of gravity.

Angela eyed her patient and said soothingly as she sat on the chair brought from Angelica's desk, "Ok, breathe in, hold, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...push Cathy, 7, 8, 9, 10. Another breath..." Angela counted and coached Catherine to breathe. Devin held Catherine's shoulders and encouraged her with words of his own much like he had done when Angela had given birth to their three girls.

"Ok, great stuff, Cathy. Take it easy for a minute unless you need to push again. Baby's almost here. I see a lot of hair," Angela said.

Catherine looked up at Devin and they both knew what each was thinking. Was this the baby that was going to resemble his father and look like a little kitten?

Catherine could not think long because swiftly she needed to push again.

"Ok, good, go ahead. Just a second. Blow through the rest of this contraction because I need to move the umbilical cord." Angela did her business and taking some olive oil spread some around Catherine's vaginal opening so the stretching would be lubricated and not burn as much. This baby was going to be big and although Catherine had had three previous children her opening may still tear.

With one loud scream, Catherine pushed the last of the first baby out. There was a lot of blood and as Angela suctioned the baby's nose and mouth waiting for a cry she cried aloud: "Congratulations! It's a beautiful baby girl!"

Angela swaddled the little baby girl in a soft towel and placed her on Catherine's chest for a little skin-to-skin.

"Born at 2:30 pm in the afternoon!" Angela exclaimed as she waited for the birth of the next baby.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Devin walking away from Catherine temporarily looked out the bedroom window and was visibly relieved when he saw Peter Alcott standing on his doorstep.

Devin ran to the front door and opened it.

"Devin, I got here as fast as I could. Everything ok?"

"Catherine just had a "normal" little girl." Devin said emphasizing the word "normal".

"Good. I'm just in time then. Where can I wash up?" Peter asked

Devin accompanied him to the bathroom where they talked about the birth and if Peter had been able to contact Vincent.

"Yes. He's very worried to say the least, but he's got enough obligations around in the tunnels so he hasn't tried to get here himself."

Devin just sighed and then accompanied Peter to Catherine's side.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite patient. How are we doing with that second baby? You must be Angela, " Peter said patting Cathy's shoulder and then shaking hands with Angela as she took off her glove.

"I think it's about time I pushed this second one out. Caroline was born almost 10 minutes ago. That's too much time between births."

"It sometimes happens, Cathy, don't worry," Peter said and saw, at once, that everyone seemed to breathe easier now that he was there. "Let me take a look to see what's happening."

Washing his hands once again and putting on sturdy rubber gloves he brought in his bag Peter peered under the covering over Cathy's legs to keep her warm. He saw a lot of blood as Angela had told him, but he was relieved to know that the first baby was born with no issue. However, this second one may prove a bit more curious. Peter laid a hand on Catherine's still large protruberance and felt the contraction coming on.

"Ok, sweetheart, you feel like pushing? This little guy is still pretty far up the canal, but that's because his sister blocked him. I think he just needs a little push from mommy."

"Yes, I'll push on the next contraction which is...right...now," Catherine said and with her chin to her chest she pushed very hard to hopefully bring her little boy into the world.

"Good, Cathy, very good. I can see him," Peter said while Angela stood at the foot of the bed watching the progress as well. There was more blood and it gushed down the covering of the bed which Angela had placed there before Catherine started bleeding heavily.

"Whew!" Catherine said.

"Ok, quick break and then another one, ok? We've got to get him into the world," Peter said trying not to show concern. He knew labor and being born was the riskiest part of a baby being born but a baby that was special the birthing was that much scarier. Peter had delivered Mary Margaret, Vincent and Catherine's third child and she had been delivered very slowly. When she was finally born everyone had exclaimed how cute and kittenish she looked as she had inherited her looks from her father. Mary was not an exact replica of her father, so she could pass as completely normal without comment in the World Above one day if she chose. However, this child whose looks were still in question because the ultrasound had not completely revealed everything.

"Ok, push, Cathy...the baby's coming!" Angela said. Baby Caroline wailed as Uncle Devin held her close and murmured that her mommy was just a little busy.

"It's burning...ugh..." Catherine said through gritted teeth and pushing. All at once the release came and Catherine took a grateful intake of breath and looked down at the little baby who looked somewhat like a kitten with strawberry blonde maine and little tiny hands with the smallest replica of claws. His little flat nose and cleft upper lip resembled his father as did the big blue eyes that looked up at Peter when he started to cry.

"He's Vincent's son, for sure," Peter said proudly and relieved. Again the baby was swaddled and put on Catherine's chest. While Peter and Angela were busy cleaning Catherine and waiting for the placentae to be delivered. Catherine held Vincent, Jr. to her breast while Devin held little Caroline who had suddenly stopped crying.

"Do you want to switch?" Devin asked. Catherine nodded between crying aloud at the pain of bringing forth the placentae.

Catherine had looked at both of her children and declared then perfect. Little Caroline had her green eyes and a smattering of blonde hair: whereas, Vincent, Jr. was the spittin' image of his large lion-like father.

After Catherine was all cleaned up and moved back up the bed to lie comfortably and rest. Devin and Angela decided to tend to the newborns.

"Angela, did you want to get a look at Vincent, Jr.?" Devin asked carefully. He knew that on first glance when he was born, Angela did not say a word but examined him through curious eyes.

"Sure. He's a baby, isn't he?"

"Look, I know what you're thinking. Everyone thinks the same thing when they meet Vincent for the first time. This little guy looks like a miniature Vincent," Devin said giving him a little kiss on his forehead.

Angela wondered if she would feel that accepting when she held the little guy. She was a nurse, after all, and she had seen a lot worse conditioned children upon their births. She had witnessed and assisted at births where children had only half a limb or a cleft palate, so a little guy whose little face could remind one of a cherubic kitten should not be so frightening.

They switched the babies and Angela could not help but be captivated by those vivid blue eyes. His little hands were just like any other baby's hands except the nail pits looked more like claw pits. They were still hands, though, not paws. He was a darling little baby. She only hoped that upon meeting Vincent she could feel as accepting.

"So this is what your brother looks like?" Angela asked her husband as they sat together in the living room with the two little babies.

"Pretty much. Of course, he's over six feet tall and has long hair. He wear his mane like a rock star. He's very sensitive and kind and brave. He's the best man I have ever known. So I hope you like him when you meet him. I know he'll like you and our girls are already attached to Uncle Vincent," Devin said as he kissed Angela on the cheek.

While Catherine was in the early stages of labor, Angela and Devin had hauled out the crib from what was to be the new nursery for their son who had not been born. Angela was so worried over her patient that the significance of the crib had not dawned on her at that moment. However, now, as she placed Vincent, Jr. in it and Devin placed Caroline right next to him a tear escaped from her eye.

Devin saw her wipe away the tear and came over to where she stood over the other side of the crib and took her in his arms and held her tight.

"It'll be ok, sweetheart. We can try again," Devin whispered and stroked her hair as her head came to rest on his shoulder.

"Sure. We can..." Angela said as she cried cleansing her soul of the grief of the baby who was to have been born only a few months ago and the joy at seeing two babies, though not hers, occupy the crib.

Peter had stayed with Catherine to let her know how she was doing and warned her that she may not be able to have any more children.

"Vincent and I are through with this, I'm pretty sure, Peter. We now have five where before we despaired if we would have any," Catherine said.

" Nonetheless, you're bleeding pretty badly. If it turns into hemmoraghing we'll have to consider a hysterectomy. So, I hate to say this but you can't go home just yet. I'll be here a few more hours and if it doesn't look like it's going to stop I'm getting an ambulance and taking you to the nearest hospital."

"What about the babies and Vincent?' Catherine asked wanting so badly to head home now and show her husband their two newest children.

"I will contact him and make him understand there would be no other way. The last thing he wants is to lose you. So I know he'll understand when I explain it to him."

"Peter, if it does slow down, do you think we could head home tomorrow?"

"We'll see. I'm staying at a nearby hotel and I will be in touch," Peter said as he rose.  
"Now go to sleep. The children are fine and if they really need you Devin or Angela will let you know. Remember they are parents, too, so they can handle a couple of newborns for a couple of days. Now get some rest," Peter said bending down and kissing Catherine on her forehead and tucking her in the warm bed.

Catherine fell fast asleep feeling secure that she would be going home soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I know this is a long time coming. I apologize for not posting a chapter for a while. I hope you're still with me on this one. Good things are coming! Thank you - Carebearmaxi**

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 8

Vincent had been conducting a young literature class when he felt Caroline being born. He had an intimate connection with each one of his children even while they were in the womb. After they were born, this connection was especially helpful in finding Jacob after he was kidnapped from Catherine moments after his birth.

"Vincent?"

"Yes, little Catherine?"

"Is everything ok?"

Vincent smiled at the little 10 year old blonde haired child named after his wife. Leyna, little Catherine's mother, assisted in the literature class with some of the younger children who sometimes misbehaved. Leyna, who had been a prostitute, had come to live in the tunnels while Catherine, who had found her, was still an Assistant District Attorney. Leyna had since matured and married a man who had grown up in the tunnels. Louis and Leyna now had two children of their own Victoria and Louis, Jr. both now four and three years old, respectively.

Leyna had become a very good teacher in her own right and helped Vincent when he was too busy with his other responsibilities to teach class. Leyna looked at Vincent as her daughter asked if everything was fine. Vincent smiled at little Catherine and then Leyna and then at the whole class.

"Everything is fine. Let's continue with our reading, shall we?"

Vincent looked down at the book he was holding and the children did the same of their own copies.

Soon class was over and Leyna waited until all the children were gone and scooted her own daughter out of the chamber then she walked over to him and asked.

"Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure. You know Catherine is in Pittsburgh with my brother Devin?"

Leyna shook her head and placed a comforting hand on Vincent's shoulder. At one time she thought she had been in love with this unusual looking being, however, she found that she did love him but not as Catherine loved him. As she matured Leyna realized what courage it had taken for Catherine to love this man and what courage Vincent finally took in realizing he was worthy of her love and to make Catherine his wife.

"No, I didn't know. I've gotten to know your nieces but I did not know that Catherine was there. She was..what? Almost nine months pregnant with twins?"

"Yes, but we both thought she may have had more time. Catherine has had the children while she's been with Devin. I could feel them being born."

Leyna smiled and rubbed Vincent's shoulder comfortingly. Vincent had remained seated at the desk in one of the classroom chambers. Normally he was off to see where his own children were knowing that they had classes of their own. Vincent still shared teaching with those of the other adults in the Tunnels. One of whom was creaking by on his way to his chamber.

"Vincent," Father said as he saw Leyna and Vincent in the classroom. "Little Catherine told me that something may be amiss. Leyna, honey, I think your two younger children are out of their nursery class. I heard your husband screaming for them to slow down on the way back to your chamber. You might want to go save him before they run him over."

Leyna knew that was Father's polite way of telling her to leave so he could speak privately with his son.

"Sure thing, Father. Vincent if you need anything you know where I am."

"Thank you, Leyna. Just keep an eye on my nieces."

"No problem. Happy to help."

When Leyna left the room, Father smiled at the back of her and turned to look at his son.

"She has grown into such a fine woman. I despaired of her when Catherine first brought her to us."

"Yes. She was confused. She is now a good mother and becoming a good literature teacher as well."

"Mmhm. Now what happened?" Father asked.

"Catherine gave birth to the children. I felt each one as they came into the world. It was like a breath of fresh air."

"So why are you worried? I'm sure Catherine will be home as soon as she can."

"I believe there were complications. I told Peter to contact me as soon as he knew what was happening."

"Catherine isn't..."

"Oh Father, no, of course not! I would have felt that a totally different way."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure. I'm just glad Peter was on his way."

Just then a messenger came down to the class chamber and handed Vincent a note.

It read:

 _Vincent,_

 _You are now a father again of two beautiful children. Vincent, Jr. is definitely your son and Caroline is definitely Catherine. Right now, as I write this note to you, I am in Pittsburgh but have sent this along the Tunnel Channels. I left Catherine and the babies in good hands with Devin and his nurse wife, Angela. I am concerned, though, that Catherine may start to hemorrhage if the bleeding from the birth does not coagulate or lessen shortly. I have Angela on standby should this happen and transport Catherine to the closest hospital for an emergency hysterectomy._

 _If this should happen, I will be with her as I know you cannot. However, I high hopes that this will not happen. Because of this Catherine and the children must remain in Pittsburgh a few days longer. Don't worry. Devin and Angela have entrusted you with the care of their little ones so feel safe in the reciprocation of that trust._

 _Now, forward the good news to Jacob, Jonathan and little Mary that they are now the older siblings of the two newest Wells children._

 _I will keep you posted on Catherine's progress and let you know when the children and she are venturing home._

 _Warmest love and regards_

 _Peter_

Vincent handed the note to Father for him to read.

Father looked up from the letter to see Vincent's head bowed in anguish.

"I know you want to go to her, but Peter feels she'll be fine in a few days and she will be on the way home then. Besides, you have six children to take care of that belong more or less to you. So your responsiblities are to them first. You know, Catherine would agree with me. Don't you?" Father asked coercing his son to look him in the eye.

Vincent's vivid blue eyes were wet with worry. He knew that these worries were part of life. A life he never thought he would have nor thought he was entitled to because he was so different than most men. Unwilling to trust himself to throes of passionate, sexual love he thought he would never earn the desire of a woman and she would want to bear him children. How wrong was he? He was forever grateful to this woman who bore him child after child and loved him as if he were truly normal and able to command a regular existence above and allow her to live in the traditions to which she were born.

"I know I can't see her. I do have Devin's girls and my other children to look after, but I am going to write to her and hopefully it may reach her before she is on the way home," Vincent said smiling at his father.

"By the way, congratulations, Vincent, I can't wait to hold my newest grandchildren."

"Grandpa? HI Uncle Vincent."

"Yes, Angelica, what did you need?" Father asked as his gaze fell on the little dark haired girl who reminded him so much of his elder son.

"Could you read that story to Miranda, Heather, Jacob, Jonathan, Mary and me again?"

"You mean Aesop's Fables?"

"Yes, I meant could you continue?"

Father smiled at one of his eldest grandchildren and said, "Yes, sweetheart, of course. Go find the book and set yourselves up in my chamber. I think Uncle Vincent needs a few minutes alone."

Vincent smiled. "Thank you, Father, for everything." Vincent then kissed his father on the cheek as he had one when he was small.

Father smiled and patted Vincent's cheek and then started out of the chamber on his crutch to finish the book he started yesterday.

Vincent watched him go and then returned to his own chamber to compose the letter to his wife.

Catherine looked at the ceiling as she wanted to see her babies and hold them. However, right now, she was feeling too weak to do much of anything except lie there. Angela had been kind enough to bring them in earlier and see if little Vincent could latch onto a breast. He was not able to do too much, so Angela continued to feed him with a bottle. Caroline, though, was a trooper. She latched on and almost sucked the life out of Catherine's breasts.

After the children had been fed, Angela said that Catherine looked as white as a sheet and took her temperature. She did not have a fever but she said that Catherine was bleeding about a pad an hour.

"You can't go on much longer than this, hon," Angela reported to her sister-in-law. "I am not going to sugar coat this for you. You may be hemorraghing at this point. It's been two days and it really has not slowed down."

Catherine asked through a disgusted clenched jaw and closed eyes, "What did Peter say when he came this morning?"

"He asked me to check you this afternoon and then report to him if anything had not changed."

"So I assume nothing has changed. That's probably why I feel so limp and weak. I was barely able to hold onto Caroline as she nursed. That cannot be good for the babies."

"Don't worry. I'm supplementing Caroline with formual if she gets cranky. I had the same issue with Heather Marie. She was my biggest baby at ten pounds at birth and she was never sated when it came to feeding time. Well, I don't think much has changed. I'm going to have to watch her appetite as she gets older or she may become a real puffball."

Catherine was rather taken aback by that remark. Little children should not be put into pigeon holes. If Heather Marie even smells that her mother thinks she's overweight there's no way of telling what that could do to Heather Marie's self esteem. Catherine's own daughter, Mary Margaret tended to be on the chubby side but Catherine attributed that chubbiness to being a little girl and having inherited some larger traits from her father. Once she had a large growth period or her body matured, Catherine was sure Mary's babyfat would disappear. If it happened that it did not then it did not matter as long as she remained healthy. It was all part of her daughter being who she was being Vincent and Catherine's eldest Mary Margaret Wells.

Catherine raised her head from the pillow and attempted to rise and get out of bed which was a big mistake. The minute she rose her head started to spin and she felt like she would vomit.

"Catherine!" Devin exclaimed as he caught his sister-in-law and laid her back into the bed. Before he could lay her down, though, he caught sight of the large bright red blood stain on the back of her nightgown and how it matched the one on the bed pad where Catherine had lain.

"Hold on, honey. I think we need to change you. You're covered in blood," Devin told Catherine as he held onto her limp body. She felt so weak and limp not like when he hugged her about a week ago upon seeing her so heavily pregnant. Her body was thin and protuberant with the pregnancy but she was responsive and strong. Now she was barely hanging onto him.

"Angela! We have a situation!"

"Be right there. I'm changing V.J.!"

"V.J.? How about that he already has a nickname," Devin softly said to Catherine as she seemed to faint in his arms.

"Vincent won't like it. In all of the years we've been together, he has never once called me Cathy like everyone else does," Catherine weakly said as she clung to her brother-in-law.

"I apolgize for being a pain in the ass to you and Angela. This is NOT what I planned when I said I wanted to come with you...I'm so tired."

"I know you are, Cathy. Stay strong, honey. We all need you. Just think if you get well within a couple of days you and the kids can go home and show Vincent, VJ, and really see how mad he gets."

Catherine fainted and Devin had no choice but to lay her back down on the soiled sheet. He looked for the smelling salts that Peter had left in case she fainted. He waved them around her face but elicited no response. He knew she was breathing because he could see her chest rise and fall and then he gently put his ear to Catherine's chest and heard her heart beat very slowly.

"Cathy. Come on, Chandler, snap out of it! This is no time to slip into a coma."

Just at that juncture, Angela came in with the phone and dialed Peter's room.

"Peter, this is Angela Wells. I believe Cathy has just slipped into a coma."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm almost to the end of this story. Just a couple of more updates to go. Please enjoy. R &R if you feel like it! Thank you so much for liking this. **

Take The Long Way Home - Chapter 9

"I'm calling an ambulance, right now. I'll meet you at the hospital," Peter said quickly and with not a little fear in his voice.

"I'll stay here with the babies and Devin will follow behind the ambulance in the car," Angela said falling immediately into ER nurse mode.

Devin heard her voice and was so happy in a way that Catherine had come along with him back to Pittsburgh to get his wife out of her depression. Angela was stronger and she knew now that though their son was lost they had their daughters and if she never became pregnant again there was a whole world of children who would love to have a mom, dad, and three sisters.

However, now was the best time because he could feel her strength come back with Catherine's emergency. Angela was always a great handler of emergencies.

"Devin, mind the twins and I will get a little bag packed for Catherine in the event she wakes up from her coma. She probably will once they get a little blood in her," Angela said not stopping to realize that this was her husband she was commanding not another medic or nurse's aid or other member of the medical profession.

"Really?" Devin had studied himself just enough to pretend he was a doctor for a little while but whatever he knew he promised not to use it. Having no formal degree or certification he was breaking the law; and in the years since his subterfuge had ended, he had made even more solemn promises to his family not to be a fraud anymore.

"Yes, really. Here take V.J. Caroline is still asleep," Angela said as she handed the little kitten-faced baby to Devin as she went into the bedroom. Angela checked Catherine's vitals once more and noticed how really low her pulse was and how slow she was breathing. Catherine looked so white.

 _Vincent? What were they going to tell Vincent? I haven't even met the man yet and I am worried what his reaction will be. Normal men freak out and do not get too violent, but Vincent? I suppose he can control himself. Otherwise, I'm sure Catherine would never have fallen in love with him and had his children._

Angela had become very intrigued with her brother-in-law the more stories she heard of him. Devin loved him; Catherine loved him; and already Angela's daughters were more than smitten with their unusual looking Uncle from what she heard. Angela hurried and put some underwear and Catherine's other nightgown and regular clothes in a bag along with some toiletries that she would need even if she was not performing the duties herself but by a loved one or a nurse.

The ambulance arrived shortly after Catherine's bag was packed. The paramedics came in and started an IV of saline along with one of 0 negative type blood as no one was sure of her blood type. Not even Peter and he was her obstetrician and gynecologist. The paramedics wrapped Catherine up warmly and had placed her on a clean absorbent pad on the stretcher. Devin accompanied the paramedics out of the house and swiftly kissed Angela goodbye as she stood in the doorway holding Caroline he started the car and quickly followed the dust that the ambulance had produced on its rapid way to the hospital.

The ambulance arrived and Peter met them there.

"Devin, I'm glad you're here. Do you remember Mr. Wong's phone number?" Peter asked.

"Yes, of course, I do. Eidetic memory," Devin said proving he was good at something.

"Great! Call him. Tell him to get a message to Vincent. Then I need you to get to the Tunnels and somehow bring Vincent here. Now, I know Father will have a coniption, but I think he can make an exception this time."

"What does he tell the kids and should he bring them with him?" Devin asked dreading why Peter wanted the entire family here if Catherine were only going to be in the coma until her blood had regained some strength.

"Tell him you will pick them all up. Yours, too, right?" Peter said as they rolled Catherine straight into an emergency bay.

"Mind if I call my wife first?" Devin said aching to be on the road and somehow finding some comfort for Vincent who probably already knew something had happened and was arguing with Father how to get out to Pittsburgh.

"No. Tell her I'll come by your house to check on the babies when I get a moment."

"No problem. Thank you, Peter," Devin said and shook the doctor's compassionate hand.

"I would do anything I could for Catherine and Vincent. I have to. I promised both their fathers," Peter said and smiled ruefully before he let Devin go and ventured into the busy bay.

Vincent had felt Catherine slip into the coma. He gasped loudly in the middle of listening to Jonathan read his assignment to him.

"Daddy, what is it?"

Vincent looked at his son who resembled Catherine and who even had her green eyes and said, "Nothing, son, go on."

As soon as Jonathan was finished his assignment was when Vincent had received the message from above.

 _Vincent,_

 _Catherine has fallen into a coma because she lost so much blood with the birth of the babies. I am coming tonight to take you and both sets of children to Pittsburgh. I have written a separate note for Father, so he will not be surprised when you all want to leave. I am sure he will understand._

 _So be ready for me at the North Park Tunnel. I will arrive by 7:30 pm. It should be dark enough by then for us to go in the borrowed four wheel drive. Just take a few things. I will discuss more when I see you._

 _Love,_

 _Your brother, Devin_

Vincent waited just where Devin told him and the children to wait. Rebecca had volunteered to stay with them to keep all six children in order as Vincent's mind and heart was with Catherine and was lacking the ability to concentrate on the whereabouts of six young children in the early evening as they tried to maintain patience in their expectation of Devin.

"Daddy?" Mary Margaret, five years old, asked. Presently Vincent held her in his arms as he anxiously sought the predetermined signal from Devin that he would give when he arrived.

"Yes, Mary," Vincent asked eyeing his little girl who carried a faint resemblance to him. She had a flat nose with somewhat flaired nostrils and slight almond shape eyes. Her skin was a little darker toned than her brothers but it was not extraordinary. Mary did possess a small cleft in her upper lip, but it was not deep enough to think that she had strange parentage. Her mouth with full lips formed a little rosebud. Her hair was the same color as Vincent's and only then when she stood next to him could one realize that she was his daughter.

"Where's mommy? Are we going to her?"

"Yes. Uncle Devin is taking us to see her and your new brother and sister," Vincent told his daughter and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Daddy, I'm afraid." Mary Margaret never ventured much above unlike her older brothers who sometimes accompanied their mother on her charity work and to see Uncle Joe. Mary only went above once about a year ago and when separated from her mother and brothers had a bad experience where an older child made fun of her. Ever since Mary never went above. At this age, it had been difficult for Mary to tell her fears to her parents. That was one reason why she told Vincent she was afraid. Also because she had heard the horrible stories of when Vincent had gone above as a child and the difficult experiences he had to endure.

"It's ok to be afraid. However, we are only going to Uncle Devin's house and meet your cousins' mother. Think of it as an adventure," Vincent comforted his little daughter. His connection with his little girl told him that there was more to Mary's fear then met the eye. However, Vincent's heart and mind was concentrated on Catherine that he made a note to himself to address the situation later when he had had a minute to ascertain or see his wife in her present condition.

Reaching down just then, Vincent picked a late rose from the bush next to which they were standing. It was one which had no thorns on the branch so without pricking his finger he handed it to Mary whose eyes grew wide. Vincent smiled as he watched Mary sniff it.

"It's so pretty, daddy. Where did it come from?" Mary said as she looked down and around from high in Vincent's arms.

"Mary..." Vincent said trying to bring her attention back to him. She suddenly looked back at him with her own blue eyes.

"What daddy?"

"Let's say it was magic this time, ok?" He nuzzled her nose with his own slightly furred one.

"I love you daddy," Mary said and then hugged him as best she could.

"There's the signal, Uncle Vincent," Angelica had said semi loud and pointed.

"How did you know what the signal was?" Jacob asked.

"Because one time we went camping in the mountains and I got lost and daddy used that signal to let me know it was him who was waiting for me. That was the way I found my way back to my camp."

"What does all that blinking say?" Jacob asked.

"It's like Tunnelspeak only with lights. You heard of Morse code, right?" Angelica asked her cousin.

While they began to walk to the van, Rebecca included, Angelica told her cousin what Devin's message said.

"It says: ' I love you'," Angelica said.

Jacob had nothing to say to that so he just shook his head and helped gather his cousins and siblings into the car with their luggage.

Devin asked once all the luggage and people were packed up.

"I love you, too," Vincent joked with his brother as he quickly belted Mary and Heather into carseats set in the second seat of the minivan.

Devin laughed. "I'll explain that later. Are we all packed and ready to go?"

"Yes, they are all in. It's nice to see you again, Devin. Although our visit is short one this time, come back please," Rebecca said as she hugged Devin.

"I will and I will bring Angela. You and she would be great friends," Devin said giving one more wink to his one of old childhood friends.

"I'm sure we would. Goodbye Vincent and children. Give my love to Catherine. Can't wait to see those new babies," Rebecca said before turning around and waiting for the van to drive away.

Vincent sat in the back of the minivan where it was darker. He looked at both children whose little heads drooped from slumber as they had both had fallen asleep. The other four children were either looking out the back window or drowsed in and out of sleep. Angelica, Miranda, and HeatherMarie jumped into their father's arms upon seeing him arrive at the park. Devin was so grateful to see his children that he thanked Rebecca and his brother for the great care they took of them.

"It was our pleasure," Vincent said. "They are wonderful children."

Now as they were traveling back on the Pennsylvania turnpike in the dark as the street lights temporarily illuminated the inside of the minivan, Vincent took a little time to pump Devin for answers about Catherine's condition and how they were going to sneak him in to see her.

"Well, Peter and I hadn't gotten that far when he told me to come get you. I know that's what he had in mind, but I know he's hoping that Catherine will awaken by the time we get there. She's been in the coma now for approximately ten hours as its almost midnight."

"Is your wife ready to meet me?" Vincent wondered.

"Well, we had to explain little Vincent, Jr.'s features to her, but, yes, I think she's ready to meet you. Your little guy looks just like you except his eyes aren't as blue as yours. There more a hazel gray."

"Already? I didn't think they would change for at least a couple of months. What about Caroline?"

"She's a little Catherine. Now she's has the green eyes," Devin said. "Oh by the way they are both eating up a storm. I think they both have gained two pounds in two days."

"Well, I'm so grateful that Peter was able to be there to deliver them and I am grateful to you and Angela for doing the very best you could for my family."

Devin stopped smiling and considered what Vincent and Catherine had done for his family without even realizing it.

"It's ok, really, Vincent. You've no idea how Angela has sprung back from her depression. She delivered Caroline by the way. Peter had not arrived but a few minutes after and was there for V.J."

"V.J.?"

"Yeah. Do you like his nickname?"

Vincent pretended to cough and stated "Not really. What did Catherine think?"

"She'd said you wouldn't like it. She knew that because you have never called her Cathy like all her friends have."

"That's because Cathy isn't good enough for her. I love her full name-Catherine."

"She said she loves it that you are the only one that calls her Catherine."

"Well, don't you call your wife Angela, or do you have a nickname for her?"

Devin stopped talking long enough to think about it.

"No, I have never called her anything but Angela or another endearment like "honey" or "sweetheart"."

Devin saw Vincent laugh and then he smiled himself.

Just when Vincent started to doze himself. Devin pulled up into the driveway of his modest back- in- the- woods home.

Stopping the engine, he loudly said, "We're here!"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I apologize for taking so long to update. However, life has really gotten in the way. Only a couple of more chapters. R &R if you wish. Thank you for sticking with me - cc.**

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 10

Angela had greeted them at the door and was too busy hugging her little girls to notice anyone else who alighted from the vehicle.

"Mommy! We had such a good time! Can we live in the tunnels all the time?" All three daughters cried at once combining their joy at seeing their mother up and around and not sulking and not crying over the baby that was not going to be born.

Angela kissed all three girls and showed them their two newest cousins sleeping peacefully in their parents' bedroom.

"V.J. looks like Uncle Vincent!" Angelica said. "Did you meet our cousins, Momma?"

"No, I'm just so happy that you're home I didn't even realize they were here. Your Uncle Vincent came as well?"

"Yes. You'll like him. He's so tall and different. He reminds me of a big version of Puss in Boots," Miranda told her mother.

"You weren't scared of him?" Angela asked amazed.

"Well, at first, but once he talked to us and told us stories of when he and daddy were little and we met Grandpa," Angelica said.

"We went to school, too, while we were there. It's not like our school, but it was school just as much," Heather Marie volunteered.

"I can notice a difference in you already," Angela said as she stroked the cheek of her youngest. "You already speak differently." It was not just a figment of Angela's imagination or the fact that she had not heard or listened to her children for a couple of months. Heather Marie's speech patterns did, in fact, change. HeatherMarie had a distinctive child like lisp when she left and now on return it was nowhere to be heard.

Looking behind her, Angela suddenly noticed three other children. No need for her to figure out who they were. Jacob and Jonathan looked just like Catherine except for Jacob's beautiful baby blue eyes and then little Mary Margaret all flat nose and kittenish expression peeked out from behind her eldest brother.

"These must be your cousins," Angela said. "You must be Jacob, Jonathan, and this little sweet girl must be Mary Margaret." Angela hugged all three while looking tentative at the attention their aunt was paying them.

Mary walked over to the crib where she looked in and saw her two new siblings.

"These are our new brother and sister?" She asked.

"Yes. Do you know what your mom named them?"

"I heard Uncle Devin and daddy talking. My baby sister is Caroline and my baby brother is Vincent, Jr. Uncle Devin called me V. daddy didn't like it."

Angela smiled at that and gave her niece a little kiss on her flat nose.

Then Devin approached his wife from behind and said, "I'm going to take Vincent to see Catherine if I can find a way of smuggling him in."

"Where is he?" Angela asked eager to finally meet this evidently unusual but lovable man.

"Vincent is in the living room. I think Angelica went to talk with him. Apparently she's been his shadow from what he told me."

"Ok, I'll go out there and meet him and then he can come in here and meet his two new children. They'll need to be fed soon."

"Ok, then come," Devin invited taking Angela's hand in his.

Vincent had sat down on the couch in the living room and breathed in the clean air. The mountain scent seemed to infiltrate the house which smelled of lavender and soap. The furniture of Devin and Angela's house was not glamorous but simple overstuffed country comfortable plaids and calicos. The furniture and decor of the living room reminded Vincent of his and Catherine's cabin in the Adirondacks. Once Father had reconciled himself that Vincent was a grownup and was not in danger of being discovered by some sociopath, Vincent and Catherine spent many autumn weekends there with and without their children.

A creak in the floor announced the coming of Devin and his wife, Angela. He immediately rose as was the polite manner when a lady walked into the room. He did not venture to be affectionate with her because he was not sure of what her reaction to him would be. Despite his grown confidence in meeting people who knew of him, he was still tentative when meeting them face to face for the first time. That seemed to be the one characteristic which truly endeared Vincent to Catherine. As much as she instilled confidence in him through the years of being his wife and lover, his small inhibition and quiet pride made Catherine the proudest of women.

"Honey, this is Vincent, my brother. Vincent, meet Angela Wells, my wife," Devin said gauging their reaction to one another.

"I have heard so much about you from your daughters. I am so pleased to know you are my sister-in-law and that you have taken such good care of Catherine. Thank you so much," Vincent lowered his head in respect.

Angela came forward and hugged Vincent as best she could considering the height and width difference.

As she hugged him, she said into his ear to the best of her ability, "No wonder Catherine loves you."

"I thought you would be afraid upon meeting me. Most adults have a preconceived notion of my disposition. However, I see my brother has definitely influenced you."

"Oh, Vincent, I've been a nurse for many, many years and you would not believe what true "monsters" walk through an emergency room door. If you walked through it, I would have to exclaim and say 'now there's a rock star'."

Vincent smiled and wondered where that description came into play. It had to ber Devin. Devin was one of the few people Vincent knew that would describe him in that fashion. "I'll take that has a compliment and thank you for your kind words."

"Devin's actually," Angela volunteered. "However, I would agree more with Miranda's description-Puss in Boots."

Vincent chuckled at that and felt so at home that he hugged both Devin and Angela in his big strong arms. Turning to her husband, Angela suddenly burst into tears which fell onto her husband's hand which he lifted wiping away any remaining tears falling down her face.

Angela swiped a hand down her face also and then smoothed down her sweater and said in a more vibrant voice, "Let's have you meet your new son and daughter and then we can figure out how to get you in to see your wife."

Angela took Vincent's hand and led him into HeatherMarie's bedrooom which was turned into makeshift nursery.

"Now you sit in that rocking chair and we'll each hand you a baby. They will fuss a little because it's almost feeding time. Listen to me. You're a father of five and I'm telling you how to handle infants."

"It's perfectly understandable. You love them. I can see it," was all Vincent said as first Angela placed Caroline in one arm and then Devin placed Vincent, Jr. in the other.

As little Caroline started to howl for nourishment, Angela said, "On second thought how would you like to feed Caroline? It looks like little Vincent is still asleep."

Vincent overwhelmed at the enormity of having two more children thought he did not want one to think he was already favoriting one over the other he reluctantly kissed little Vincent on his forehead and handed him back to Angela and then took the warmed bottle of formula and began to feed his daughter.

As he looked down into the little cherubic face of his newborn daughter, Vincent smiled and rocked back and forth in the big chair. Caroline opened her newborn eyes, which were not able to see quite clearly yet, and stared at who held her. Her eyes grew large Vincent would tell Catherine at a later time as their youngest daughter stared back at him and knew that he was her father.

It was clear that little Caroline was back to sleep once she had been fed. As little Vincent's schedule was clearly some time after Caroline's, Angela did not need to feed him simultaneously as Caroline was feeding. So Vincent fed his son immediately after his sister who had fallen asleep from her full belly.

Little Vincent proved to be a little more restless than his sister as he fed. He constantly looked up at his father and just stared with his own baby blues. Vincent examined his son's hands and noticed the nailpits which were pointed like his own. Little Vincent did not have much body hair, but figured once he hit puberty he would probably have more male pattern hair coarser and longer than his older brothers would. That was in the future and Vincent had vowed to himself that his child would not see the same struggles he experienced as a child and a youth. Little Vincent, Jr., would have a full home with a mother, father, and siblings. He would grow normally as much as the protection they would give him would allow.

At the thought of a whole family, Vincent's concerns returned to Catherine. He felt that nothing had changed with her condition. He could feel and hear her heart beating with his but nothing new had developed. He surmised she was still in a coma.

Vincent burped V.J. and then rose with the child in his arms. He placed him back in the crib with his sleeping sister. He gently kissed each one on the head and strode into the next room where Devin and Angela sat looking out the window at the six children who played loudly and happily outdoors in the early October morning.

"I can't believe they are still up and playing," Angela commented. "I thought you all would be exhausted after that five hour trip through the night."

"They are children. I have found at least my three have incredible energy which seems to focus on keeping their mother and I awake all night," Vincent remarked.

"Well, now, you have two new reasons to be wakened in the night," Devin laughed and said.

"It is a part of living, Devin. This part of living I never, ever thought of until Catherine came into my life."

"I know, little brother. I was just so happy when it happened for you," Devin said and then looking at his wife's brown eyes extended the wonder by saying "and for me."

Vincent yawned which quickly coerced yawns from both Devin and Angela.

"Do you want to figure out a plan to see your wife or do you want to take a nap?"

"I am yearning to see Catherine and I know that physically I need to sleep, but then so does everybody else," Vincent retorted.

"Well, I am going to get the children in here and put them all in bed for at least a few hours. I'm bushed although those two new little ones of yours are very good and have fallen into a schedule like perfect angels. However, I need some sleep," Angela said kissing her husband and then going to the front door and calling the children in so they could get a little sleep before the day really got started.

After only a couple of hours, Devin found Vincent in the kitchen making himself a cup of tea. The late morning sun shone through the window over the sink and fully illuminated Vincent dressed in his bathrobe and clean white socks on his feet. Devin smiled and scratched the back of his head and tiptoed to see Vincent's large hands manipulate the tea and the hot water as if he were a Geisha girl.

"You know if you were a woman you could service Japanese tea professionally," Devin remarked as he sat at the kitchen table.

Vincent sat down with his steaming cup of tea and just let the scent and warmth waft into his nostrils calming his unsettled nerves.

"Couldn't sleep. Worried about Catherine. Thought I would try to read and have a cup of tea. I apologize if I woke you."

Devin laid a hand on his little brother's arm and said, "No man. I had a hard time falling asleep myself. I was having a bad dream that I had lost one of my girls in the serpentine in the Tunnels."

"Which one?"

"That's the strange thing. I would look around and first Miranda left and I would tell the other two to stay where they were and then I would say I could not find their sister and another one would disappear. Finally I was screaming all three names and hearing Angela's voice in the background screaming at me that I had lost everybody. That's when I woke up."

"You checked on all three girls?" Vincent asked knowing how that kind of loss could feel even if just a dream.

"I checked on all five of yours, too. I wanted to make sure they were all there. I didn't want to have to tell you that one of yours was missing as well."

"They are here. I have a connection with each one of my children just like I do with Catherine."

"So she said."

"Peter's last call said she was the same," Vincent said taking a sip of his tea and then looking worriedly into space.

"That means she's still asleep and healing, Vincent. No need to be alarmed at that. It's what 10:00 am?" Devin said as he spotted the clock over the sink. The kitchen faced the backyard and the sun was shining brightly on this late October morning.

"When Angela gets up we can figure a plan to get you to see Catherine. If I know Chandler, she'll wake up the minute you touch her. Just like Prince Charming and Snow White."  
Vincent smiled at the comment and took another sip of tea.

"I suppose we are a little like a fairy tale," Vincent said ruefully. "I must say Angela is such a wonderful woman. I despaired for you when you arrived at the Tunnels."

"It was your wife and your fascinating story that brought her around. Also the fact that Angela had a medical emergency on her hands. That's what she responds best to."

"Just like Father," Vincent remarked looking at Devin and noticing the recognition of the remark.

"Yeah, just like Father," Devin said.

Then one of the newborns was awake and ready to start the day. At the footfall, Devin turned around and found his wife, barely awake still dressed in tank top and pajama pants, holding Caroline. Finding the two men at the table, she asked: "Would one of you like to feed Caroline. I need to go back to bed."

Vincent smiled and said, "I would love to feed my daughter."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! I hope you're still sticking with this fic. I'm almost finished and I apologize for taking my time updating. My goal is to have this completed by Sunday after Thanksgiving. Thank you again for all those fans who have enjoyed this fic. I appreciate the R &R's. - Carebearmaxi**

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 11

A little later that day just before sunset, Angela and Vincent sat in the back of the van in the hospital parking lot. Angela leaned forward in the driver seat.

"Hey, Vincent, sneak up here and look out the window," Angela said.

Vincent pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and climbed into the front passenger seat. Luckily it was dark enough and the van was high enough that no one would ask questions if they spotted someone dressed in a hood.

Vincent peered at the side of the hospital building which was six stories high.

"At my age, I do not think trying to scale the side of this building is the best method for me getting into visit Catherine."

Angela looked again and said," Well that wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I don't want you to climb the outside of the building. Even if you could it would be conspicuous, you know?"

"Well, then, what did you have in mind? Peter said Catherine was getting paler by the minute and I can feel she needs me. So, I have got to think of some method of subterfuge to get into see her." Vincent's last words became vehement in tone showing his heightened emotion at the thought that his wife was in serious trouble.

Suddenly Peter Alcott strode out from the back of the hospital and walked up and into the van. He had closed the door behind him before he started to speak.

"Ok, listen, I have obtained a surgical gown with a mask and gloves. Angela, you're a nurse here so you don't need any disguise. Don't worry, Vincent, I got a size big enough to fit you. I left the surgical apparel in a clear bag behind a can in the basement level. There's freight elevator that apparently no one uses this time of day."

"Yes, that's true. Shipments and deliveries are usually done in the morning and then the trash is not removed until the next day," Angela volunteered.

"Right, so, Vincent when it becomes very dark, you and Angela sneak to the other side of the building from where you saw me come. Find your surgical gown, mask, and gloves. Put them on immediately and Angela can find the right time when to get you into the elevator and up to see Catherine in the ICU. She's in a private room, so once you're there you can be alone with her while Angela stays close and acts as a lookout."

Vincent bowed his head, smiled, and shook his head. After a pause, he looked up and behind at Peter.

"You've thought of everything. How can I thank you?"

"This wasn't my idea, but your sister-in-law's. You thank her for all of this: bringing you here to Pittsburgh, making you come to the hospital, and thinking of a way to get you to Catherine to heal her."

Vincent, overwhelmed, silently laid his hand on Angela's which lay on the steering wheel between them.

"I than-"

"No need to thank me yet. Nor ever if this plan works and it helps Catherine heal. She was kind enough to be sure to bring my husband back and allow me to see that others have obstacles. Also that I am needed here not only by my husband and children, but also by my extended family. If it weren't for her insisting to return with Devin, I may never have gotten over my depression. So, thank you, Vincent."

Vincent simply nodded silently.

Peter looked at his watch and outside at the now darkened sky.

"It's time."

Peter returned to Catherine's room. Although he was not on staff at that particular hospital, he was still Catherine's obstetrician and worked with the staff where he did have some friends and colleagues.

He walked in to find his friend Dr. Stanley Brinkerman writing on Catherine's chart.

"Hey, what's up Stan?" Peter asked concerned.

Stanley was a short, balding man with horn rimmed glasses. He was the exact opposite of Peter Alcott who was tall, thin with a head full of wavy dark brown hair.

Stanley looked up at his friend and said, "I was called in here because her heart rate just dipped again. Luckily we did not need a crash cart."

Peter sighed a sigh of relief quietly.

"Say, Stan, I'm here now. I'm sure you have more patients to see. I need to stay with her to check her again before I call her family."

Stan looked up at Peter and handing him her chart said, "Well, I'll leave this time only because I know how close you are to her. However, I will return."

Peter laughed and accepted the chart quietly.

Meanwhile, Angela and Vincent had made it into the basement of the hospital and found the extra large sized scrubs for Vincent. Suddenly Angela burst into giggles when trying to hide Vincent's mane.

"You find my hair funny?" Vincent said. He was having difficulty maintaining a sense of humor as Catherine still lay unconscious upstairs. He had felt the dip in her heart rate and he knew he had to hurry if his presence was going to be effective.

Angela stopped laughing and put a hand to her mouth. "Not at all. It's beautiful, but it's a little difficult trying to shove it all under this surgical cap! Does Catherine play with your hair? I think if Devin had hair as nice as yours I would never leave my hands off of it."

"I'll make a note to tell him that when next we meet," Vincent responded. "By the way, Catherine does like my hair at times. I remember every time I was feeding one of the children when they were small like the twins she would make me tie it back in a band, so it wouldn't tickle the babies' noses while they ate."

"Really," Angela's big brown eyes opened wide. She then pictured Vincent with a polka-dot scrunchie holding his hair back and the giggles started again.

"You really have a pierced ear, too?"

"A gift from my wife who wanted us to costume as pirates one year for Halloween. I had the eye patch and all. You see, it is the only night where I can accompany her to social outings and no one looks twice."

Angela suddenly stopped laughing and placed a hand on his wrist.

"I had not thought about that. It must be difficult not being able to accompany her all the time to social gatherings."

"It used to be. However, since she quit her job with the DA's office when we got married it doesn't hurt has much as it used to. Most of her friends from Above have become Helpers and know me and respect me as Catherine's husband and father of her children."

"Wow. That's as it should be. Ok, I think we are able to get you upstairs. Can you tell if anything has changed?"

"I did not want to say anything but I think she's had a dip in her heartbeat. Suddenly I felt a slowing down and drawing away from me almost as if she were fading away. I need to get to her!"

Without another word, Angela took Vincent's now gloved hands and guided him to the freight elevator. Once in the car, Angela hit the UP button and both could feel the car glide up the cables taking them to the desired floor.

Vincent's stomach had more butterflies than he cared for and Angela was just as bad. She squeezed his arm and softly said, "We'll be fine. They probably won't think a thing since I've been here so long."

"I hope so." Vincent remained silent for the rest of the trip in the elevator. His only thought was seeing Catherine and somehow bringing her back from the edge of leaving him and their family.


	12. Chapter 12

Take the Long Way Home

Chapter 12

"Well, so far, so good," Angela spoke in hushed tones to Vincent as they walked swiftly to Catherine's room. "See I told you...Uh?"

"Angela are you back on duty already? I thought you would be home for at least another week."

"Alexa!" Angela said startled at the sight of one of her hospital friends.

"Who's this strapping doctor? All ready for surgery, I see. Oh, honey, you can take down the mask. We all breathe each other's germs on this part of the ward," Alexa joked looking up at Vincent's tall height.

Angela not really knowing what to do at this point just tried to shrug out of any introductions when Vincent suddenly lowered his mask and brazenly said to Alexa.

"I'm Vincent. Angela's brother-in-law and we were just up at the Children's Ward trying out my new Halloween costume.

Alex not really thinking anything was amiss looked Vincent and up and down and said, "Well, if you are going for a lion like rockstar, you nailed it. How did the kids like it?"

"They loved it!" Angela quickly said. "Look, Alexa, I would love to stop and chat for a while, but Vincent does have a patient to see on this floor. We have to get her transported back to his hospital to be under his care and we need to get it done tonight because she is really, really in need of his care."

Alexa, being a nurse and a human being, certainly could understand the urgency in the request.

"Of course, I didn't mean to keep you. I'm just a talker and I haven't seen Angela look this good for a long time, so I apologize for keeping you."

"No apologies needed. I would love to chat some other time, but like Angela has stated, I do need to get to my patient," Vincent said shaking Alexa's hand.

"Well, if you'll excuse me then," Alexa said and trotted off on her rounds.

"Whew! You should be an actor. That was courageous of you to lower the mask like that. Thank God it is October, so your excuse was perfect!"

"She seems like a very friendly woman and the last thing I wanted to do was scare her or cause alarm. It can still happen from time to time, so I am always wary."

Angela just smiled up at Vincent and then they continued on their way to Catherine's room.

When they arrived, Peter met them at the door.

"You made it!"

Peter paused a moment and then continued.

"Vincent, she's hooked up to a heart monitor because her heart rate keeps dipping and I don't want to lose her. So if it goes silent..."

"It will not come to that. I am sure. If it does, I have been trained in CPR and she's my wife so I will keep calm and know what to do," Vincent said calmly. He was more calm than he actually showed. If they could see through into his heart, Peter and Angela would have seen a man shaking and frightened that he was seeing his beloved wife for the last time. Vincent would not survive if something happened to Catherine.

"Ok, go ahead in," Angela said.

"Vincent walked in and Angela closed the door. She decided to walk to the nurses' station and speak to a couple of her friends while she was there throwing them off the scent that someone close to her had a problem. She dragged Peter with her and properly introduced him to her friends. Catherine was being monitored like Peter said so if anything should happen while Vincent was in there they would know and could run interference.

Peter hoped his instinct was correct in exposing Vincent's existence in this way.

Meanwhile, Vincent slowly removed his mask, gloves, and hat letting his red gold mane spill over his shoulders in the dimmed light of the hospital room. Catherine's bed was lengthwise to the width of the room and sat next to a window to which the blinds had been drawn to afford privacy. The beeping of the machine was the only noise in the quiet room and it surrounded and penetrated Vincent's ears and brain as he walked over to the still form of his wife.

His gaze fell upon her and he noticed how pale she was. She looked drained of life and blood. She was hooked up intravenously to saline and blood because her body still had not stopped bleeding after the delivery of the twins. She needed to be built up. Vincent swallowed hard knowing that Catherine lie in the bed indirectly due to him and his passion for her and his taking of her in love. He knew if she could read his thoughts he would have gotten out of that bed and denied it all and knock some sense into his head. Vincent knew how much she loved him and how much she desired him as much as he had always desired her.

Vincent bent over Catherine's sleeping form and gently kissed her on the forehead. He took her one hand in his and wiped an unbidden tear fallen from his eye with the other.

"Catherine, I'm here," Vincent said softly hoping this would illict a response.

She did not stir. Vincent sat down on the chair placed beside her bed. Still holding her hand he laced his fingers with hers. He put their clasped hands against his face with her knuckles touching his cheek.

"Catherine. I know you can hear me. You wouldn't leave me like this. Our family is now so complete." Vincent kissed her hand and then changed hands and brushed some hair away from her forehead which had fallen there in her sleep.

"Well, he's in there," Angela said to Devin on the phone from the nurses' station. I hope this works. He said she felt he could feel her slip away a little further which made sense because Peter said her heart had slowed down even more alarmingly."

"Did anyone spot you with him? How did you get him in there?" Devin wondered because there was one thing that an over six foot tall lion faced man would excite was either fear or curiosity.

"We had a close call. One of the more gregarious nurses I work with spotted Vincent and me. We weren't paying attention looking behind us to see if anyone had seen us get off the freight elevator."

"Who was it?" Devin asked. He was fascinated at how they did get Vincent into Catherine's room without him scaling the side of the building. Vincent never had had too much difficulty climbing but he was a lot older and heavier now and out of practice Devin was assured since Vincent had not had to scale Catherine's building to see her anymore.

"Alexa Sneed," Angela stated.

"Alexa! She's got the biggest mouth this side of the Mississippi," Devin said. He really liked her but she never knew when to keep her mouth shut.

"How did you manage to get him in there in the first place?"

"Peter left a set of scrubs with cap and gloves near the loading dock door. We went in as he was coming out and then Vincent put on his outfit and we rode the freight elevator up to the sixth floor and out we went."

"Vincent was covered from head to foot in scrubs?"

"The whole enchilada. Hey, how are all the kids? Are you holding down the fort or do you need me to come home right now?"

"Believe it or not, they all get along so great and all six of them were cooperative when I had to feed the babies. Angelica helped feed Caroline and then she went off with her sisters and cousins and they are having a ball outside in the yard."

"Ok. It's getting late, though, don't you think you ought to bring them in."

"Sure. In a few...I was just watching them and they are squealing and laughing and falling down and just having a ball."

Angela could feel the smile in her husband's voice and it made her very happy. She knew in the last couple of months the last thing she had seen was her husband's smile. It was the one of things she loved about him. When she had met him he was just realizing his worth after so many years being told he was nothing. She could not imagine any one not appreciating Devin's big heart. To accept a being like Vincent and accept him as if he were his blood relative, took a heart and soul so giving and loving that Angela felt honored to be Devin's wife.

The mood of the call changed and Angela just stated after a momentary silence.

"I'll see you a little later, Dev. I love you."

"Love you, too."


	13. Chapter 13

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 13

Vincent sat for at least an hour holding Catherine's hands and lightly touching her face. He thought, like Peter, that instinctively through the haze of her coma she would know he was there and waiting for her. He continued talking to her telling her about how big the twins were in just a couple of days and how proud he was at the leadership qualities already showing in Jacob. He also told her how Jonathan had taken his little sister and his younger cousins under his wing and showed them all his favorite spots in the Tunnels and they, in turn, showed them their favorite spots in their own habitat.

Suddenly the beeping on the heart monitor became erratic. Vincent quickly knew that that meant someone would be barging in on them to ensure that Catherine was not going into cardiac arrest. Vincent released Catherine's hand with a kiss and hurriedly began to look for a place to hide when he quickly turned around.

"Vincent!?"

"Catherine!" Vincent turned around and held a finger to his lips. He was able to quickly hide himself behind the bathroom door just as Peter, Angela, and Stanley burst into the room to check on their patient.

"Cathy!" Peter was the first to exclaim as he stared straight into Catherine's green eyes. "You're awake!"

Catherine lie back and remained quiet and knew that she had to conceal Vincent's presence in the room. She recognized Peter, of course, and her sister-in-law, but she was in the dark as to whom the third person. She remained always aware of Vincent's ability to arouse fear and curiosity so she remained quiet as to her knowledge of he hiding in the bathroom. She was not sure how Vincent had arrived in her room, but she was so happy to see him and at the same time curious as to her own arrival at what seemed to be a hospital.

"How did I get here? Where is here? Angela? Who are you?" Catherine started popping questions to every person in the room.

"One thing at a time, young lady," Peter admonished as Stanley Brinkerman began to remove the heart monitor contacts and take her vitals

"I am Dr. Stanley Brinkerman, Mrs. Wells. I am a good friend of Peter's over here as I understand you are a long time patient of his."

"Yes. He's also a very good friend," said Catherine as she watched the doctor perform his ministrations on her.

"Well, I have to say, you are a miracle. I am sure your husband and children will be glad you're back," Dr. Brinkerman said as he resumed his erect position after taking her vitals and writing them on her chart.

"You mean she's ok?" Peter blurted out in relief.

"Yes, her heart rate is excellent. Her blood pressue still a little slow, and her pulse is still a little slow but as you can see she is awake and alert and knows everyone here. So with that I will leave you in good hands, Mrs. Wells."

"When do you think I can leave?" Catherine said and everyone laughed. Vincent remained behind the bathroom door and closed his eyes and thanked the powers above that his wife had returned.

"Let's see how the rest of tonight goes," responded Dr. Brinkerman.

"Thank you, Stan," Peter said as he accompanied Stanley out of the room.

After Peter had shut the door, he immediately looked around the room and called for Vincent.

"He's behind the bathroom door," Catherine said lying back down. Although she wanted to go home and be with her family and feed her newborns, she felt a little weak now that the original adrenaline rush slowed down.

Catherine was pleased to see that it was Angela that went into the bathroom and sought Vincent. She gave him her hand and pulled him out of the bathroom to stand with all of Catherine's family while Catherine assimilated all that had just happened in the last few minutes.

Angela saw that Catherine was struggling with the pillows to obtain a sitting position, so Angela went over to the bed and propped one pillow and added another behind Catherine's back and then hit the controls on the bed to a sitting position. Before letting go, Angela kissed Catherine on the forehead and said that she was so glad she was back among them.

Catherine looked at all three of her conspirators and resumed asking questions.

"Ok, you three, the first and foremost question in my mind is. How did you get in here? Let alone get yourself to Pittsburgh?" Catherine asked looking straight into her husband's blue eyes.

She was rewarded by a smile and he coming to the bed and sitting beside her and placing an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her to himself.

He pointed at the culprits and stated very succinctly: "It was their doing."

"Yep, I thought it was them, " Catherine agreed as she looked up at her husband and smiled.

Looking back at Angela and Peter, she said, "Thank God they did!"

They all laughed together and Vincent fully engulfed Catherine in his arms placing his head on top of hers.

Angela was the first one to say, "Well, now that he's (pointing to Vincent) here, you won't need us for a while. We will leave you alone. Won't we Peter?"

"Of course, we'll return in a few minutes to figure out how we'll get this big lug out of here so you can go back to sleep and get some real rest."

"I've been sleeping for what two days straight? That's the last thing I want to do!" Catherine lamented.

"You know, darling, they speak the truth. You were in a healing sleep now you can have a dreamful sleep," Vincent said as he watched Angela and Peter leave the room.

Catherine just smiled and held Vincent tight.

"I'm curious, my love, how did you get in here without issue?" Catherine asked. Vincent had been sitting by her side talking with her now for a couple of hours. Angela and Peter had gone to dinner, Angela and Peter made sure that Catherine had received dinner as well. Angela had even gone to the trouble of getting Catherine her ordered dinner and presenting it herself so she and Vincent could be together a little bit longer.

"I dressed up as a doctor. I had on a gown, gloves and a beanie for my head," Vincent explained showing Catherine the discarded outfit he had tossed in a corner in his haste to touch her.

"A what?" Catherine started to laugh out loud. "Of all the things you were going to tell me, dressing up like a doctor was the last thing I thought I would hear. How did you get all that beautiful mane into that little beanie?"

"Of all the questions you could ask, you ask about my hair?" Vincent teased.

"Well, I just know how luxurious it is and I wondered that was all," Catherine teased back and took a bite of her food. Catherine considered Vincent's mane one of his more beautiful physical characteristics. She loved to feel it between her fingers and tickle her in more intimate places when they made love. She almost choked on her macaroni and cheese with some of the more erotic memories the thoughts evoked. To distract her suddenly sexually frustrated brain, she fed Vincent a tad from her fork.

"No, I'm not hungry, my love. You need that more than I do."

"Nonsense, I cannot fit half this food in my belly. Although it should be cavernous now after having the twins. You saw them?"

"Yes, I have even fed and changed them. I have had incredible amount of help as well."

"How did our others like them?"

"Well, Jacob stuck his nose up at them and said they looked just like Jonathan and Mary when they were born. Jonathan was happy and he held Vincent, Jr. in his arms while I sat next to him. Mary was enthralled!"

"She's probably happy now that she is no longer the youngest!"

"She actually was very happy that Vincent, Jr. and she shared quite a resemblance."

Catherine was pensive for a moment. "We are going to have watch a rivalry doesn't arise between her and her little sister."

"Why is that?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Catherine said looking up at her husband.

"Just because Caroline has no feline features and Mary has faint whisps?"

"Yes. A lot more of the world will be open to Caroline than it is to Mary," Catherine said releasing her fork and chewing the last morsel thoughtfully.

"All we can do is love them both equally and help them accept themselves for who they are not for their individual physical features," Vincent said finally availing himself of Catherine's leftovers.

"So getting back to how you got here, did anyone spot you?"

"Alexa, one of Angela's girlfriends approached us."

"So, what happened?" Catherine said excitedly. She could not bear when Vincent wanted to be coy when he knew, in fact, that she was eager to discover the truth.

After removing her tray, Vincent came to sit on the bed again next to her and told her what he had done.

"You are so lucky it's near Halloween. She could've said anything! You should never have taken that kind of risk to come here!" Catherine exclaimed while she bent forward and took hold of Vincent's collar in both of her fists and pulled him physically closer to her and she was so scared and stared him so fiercely in his eyes that all Vincent could do was laugh.

"You're laughing? I really don't think this is the time to think that a close call was so laughable. Anything could have happened," Catherine kept saying frustrated that all the people she thought would look out for Vincent's safety in her absence were the ones that put him right in harm's way.

"Catherine," Vincent said holding her close. "It was fine. I had to take the risk. You were so sick. I felt how sick you were. I almost lost you, so if there was anything I could do to bring you back then I was ready to run the risks."

Catherine looked up and all she could muster after looking in those calm blue eyes was "I love you so much."

"And I you."

After another hour, Angela knocked and entered.

"Had enough lovey-dovey time, you two? I have to get this big lug of a husband of yours back to our house. Besides Devin must be ready to tear his hair out with eight children under the age of 10 all day," Angela said smiling widely.

Catherine smiled back and said, "Tell Devin I owe him so much and you for taking care of me and bringing my lug of a husband to me."

Angela bent down and hugged Catherine. When she stood back up, she said "Nonsense. You came to save me and my family which you did. So if anyone is grateful, I am."

"I will send Devin in here tomorrow. It looks like Dr. Stan and Peter want you to stay one more night to monitor your bleeding. If it has slowed then they will let you out of here tomorrow evening, probably."

"Where's Peter now?" Vincent asked.

"He decided to go back to his hotel for a well deserve rest, but he wanted me to convey to you that he is so happy that you have come back. He also wanted me to tell you that the twins have already gained weight in the last couple of days. So he wanted you to know that the children are in good hands."

Catherine blushed and said,"I could have told him that."

"Anyway, Vincent, it looks like we will have to use the same subterfuge to get out as we used to get in. I'm pretty sure we can escape this time without interruption because I have talked my head off to all my friends who are usually on duty with me."

"All right. Just give me a second to get into this costume again," Vincent said placing the gown on his body and turning so Angela could tie it on him. When it came time for the beanie, Angela looked at Catherine helplessly and she had her hand out asking for the beanie and then she signaled for Vincent to sit on the bed so she could show the trick of handling Vincent's beautiful red gold mane and place it in the beanie without issue.

After she had completed the task, Catherine kissed Vincent before tying the mask behind his head.

"Goodnight." Catherine said to Angela and her husband.

"Goodnight, Cathy. Dr. Brinkerman will be back in to examine you before he goes home for the night. Then get some real sleep and Devin and this guy will be back in the morning. Hopefully to spring you."

"Thank you for everything, Angela," Catherine said one more time as she watched them leave through the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**HI Again! Well just to let you know that I have one more little blurp to end this fic. Please R &R. I hope you have enjoyed this. I plan to reconstitute other ones that I never published which will fulfill the circle of how Vincent and Catherine had their two in the middle. Thank you to all who have kept up with this and left a review. They keep me going! Love to all - Carebearmaxi**

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 14

Back in the Tunnels, Father sat in his easy chair reading. He was not concentrating because his mind kept revolving around to how his son and his family were faring now that they were all together with his older son and family. Mary sat next to him reading as well but always keeping one ear open for one of the orphan children who may need something.

Tearing his glasses from his face and slamming his book shut, Father said,"I should have heard word by now. I'm surprised Peter has not had the courtesy to send me word on both Vincent and Catherine."

"Calm down, Jacob, dear. I'm sure we will hear soon. Look at it this way, "no news is good news", Mary said laying a comforting hand on his forearm.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, Mary," Father sat back again and reopened his book intending to resume his reading when Rebecca brought him a message.

"Rebecca, what have you there?" Father asked motioning Rebecca to venture into the spacious yet cluttered chamber.

Rebecca stepped down the three steps into the main part of the chamber carrying a paper message she had retrieved from a Helper coming from one of the helpers who had a telephone.

"Father, I received this from Charlie. He said it is a message from Vincent."

Father eagerly held out his hand and allowed Rebecca to stay in the room while he read it. After carefully opening the folded message he read and reread the message and then sighed heavily and sat back.

"They are all fine. Including Catherine. She's regained consciousness and they think she will be released in the morning," Father announced closing his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks.

"Does that mean they are coming home soon?" Mary asked rereading the message as Father had handed it to her.

"I don't know, my dear. Perhaps," Father had said truthfully. A woman who just emerged from a blood-loss induced coma may suffer other complications making it impossible for her to come home right away. They would just have to wait until the next message from Devin.

Father put an arm around Rebecca and said, "Thank you, Rebecca. You can tell the others about Vincent and Catherine."

"Good night, Father," Rebecca said and gave Father a kiss on his bristled cheek.

Mary and Father hugged each other in their relief.

Upon examination the next day, Catherine's bleeding was found to have slowed considerably.

"Well, I do not think we'll have to do a hysterectomy after all," Peter said after Stan had examined her. "However, you are going to have be on bed rest when you get home for a couple of more days just to be on the safe side."

"Yes, that's right, Peter," Stan agreed.

Catherine lowered her head and bit her lip. She felt she had missed so much by being in a stupid coma for three days. She was eager to go back to all her children let alone the twins. She wanted to sleep in the same bed as her husband and have his reassuring presence beside her and enveloping her. She had been commanded to sleep last night but the last thing she had wanted to do or could do was sleep.

"I'm going to discharge you. So you can call someone to pick you up in about an hour," Dr. Stan said to her. "Take it easy. I know it won't be easy. You now have how many children?"

"Five," Catherine and Peter said together.

"How old are they now besides the newborns?" Dr. Brinkerman had asked.

"The oldest is ten," Catherine said.

"You have your hands full."

"Don't worry. Cathy will have lots of help," Peter said winking at her.

"I suppose I do," Catherine smirked back. "Thank you, Dr. Brinkerman."

"Ok, I will see you later. Feel better now."

After Dr. Stan left, Peter came over to Catherine and took her hand.

"I am so glad you came back to us. I know getting Vincent to be here was the right thing to do."

Catherine looked him straight in the eyes. "I so much appreciate that. Yes, Vincent's presence was the best thing; however, I don't like the risk you ran in sending for him."

"He's fine, Catherine. No one the wiser. You're back. That is all that matters to any of us. Especially Vincent," Peter said hoping that she realized he had acted in her best interests. If anything had happened to Catherine, Vincent would have been doubly crazy than the last time when she was kidnapped and held against her will and their newborn son kidnapped by a psychopath.

"Thank you, Peter. So are you on your way home now?" Catherine wondered.

"Devin and Angela invited me for dinner tonight figuring that you will be home by then. We all want to celebrate. By the way Devin did get a message to Father last night about how all of you are faring without the shelter of the Tunnels."

"That's good. I know he would worry especially about Vincent's safety. It's been a while since we had to worry about Vincent coming above other than late at night taking walks in the park, so Father must have been chomping at the bit to know."

"Don't you think Father was concerned for you, too?" Peter wondered.

Catherine lowered her head again and releasing Peter's hand she lie back on the pillows and said, "I know his uppermost fear is for Vincent's exposure. I know he's care for us all including his grandchildren, but sometimes I think he still thinks Vincent will return to being that young man who seemed he would never have a life of his own."

"Perhaps. He is understandable, though, don't you think?"

"Yes. I suppose. I know I will worry about my children until I die," Catherine said.

"Spoken like a loving good mother that you are. Your parents would be so proud of you and the woman that you've become," Peter said with a smile.

"Well, like you said, I had lots of help," Catherine smiled and she and Peter shared a laugh.

Several hours later Devin had gathered all of his brother's family including his brother and him into the van he had borrowed previously

Catherine who sat in front next to Devin who was driving had been dozing off and on. She was still so tired from her loss of blood and then recovering from the coma. When she had returned back at Devin's that day, she immediately took hold of her newborns and her elder children and had not stopped one minute in answering their questions. Devin thought for them to leave the next day, but as it would be safer for Vincent in the cover of darkness that's when he decided the early evening was as good a start as any.

Vincent sat in the back of the van next to the two carseats holding his youngest and Mary was on his lap with her head nestled in the nook of his neck while Jonathan held his father's hand and dozed on his arm. Jacob sat on the other side next to the car seats and dozed off with his head resting on the back of the seat.

"Devin," Vincent said quietly.

"Yes, Vincent," Devin said quietly back.

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done since Catherine was most unexpectedly delayed in coming home."

"Are you kidding? I have to thank her and you for the sacrifice you made. You guys gave me my wife back. She recovered from her depression. She's even talking about trying to get pregnant again. I realize that you gave me my wife back and you almost lost yours," Devin said lowering his eyes a bit showing a little his sorrow at the thought that Vincent almost lost his Catherine again.

"Yes, I didn't, though. Catherine is a strong woman and I knew she would come back to us. She's been in peril in so many ways that she had to grow from all the horror she has had to live through."

"Especially how and when Jacob was born," Devin acknowledged.

"Yes." Vincent simply stated and kissed Mary's little forehead.

Suddenly there was a siren and the reflection of red lights in the mirror which aroused all inhabitants of the vehicle.

"It's the police?" Catherine said immediately alert and awake. "Devin, what were you doing?"

"I don't think I was speeding. I don't think I have headlight or a tail light out?" Devin said trying to think of some reason why he was being pulled over.

"Vincent," Catherine whispered worriedly.

"It's all right, mom. Daddy took Mary and V.J. to the back of the van where it's dark," Jacob explained having turned on his knees to look back. He then hopped over the seat and sat next to baby Caroline and his brother joined him on the first seat in the back of the van. Vincent and the other two children were cloaked in darkness, so unless Devin was under suspicion of carrying illegal substances or the cops were especially looking for contraband Vincent, Mary, and V.J. should be fine.

Devin stopped the vehicle and in the glaring flashing lights of the cop car, he waited for the officer to step to the side of the van and ask for his license, registration, and insurance card.

Devin opened the car window as the NY police officer came to the window with a flashlight.

"Good morning, officer," Devin said as he rolled down the window.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" The office asked.

"No, not exactly. Was I speeding?" Devin asked innocently.

"Exactly. Do you realize you were going 50 in the 25 mile an hour residential zone!" The office shown his flashlight briefly through the van's front seat and part of the back.

"Frank?" Catherine asked. "Frank, is that you?"

"Cathy Chandler?" the office asked in return. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Frank Winslow. I thought you retired like a hundred years ago?"

"No, I just moved and changed precincts. What are you doing out here this time of the morning."

"Well, this is my husband, Vincent." Catherine tweaked Devin's arm. "Back there our five children are asleep. We're returning from a trip down south to see Devin's parents. We needed to get back early because the children need to go back to school on Tuesday."

"Nice to see you again, Catherine. Where are your other two? I only see three children."

Catherine bit her lip temporarily and then said. "There asleep in the back with the nanny. So I would appreciate if you could keep this to a dull roar. Just give 'Vincent' his punishment and then we'll be on our way."

Frank looked at the license, registration, and insurance card with Devin's name printed on them. Luckily Devin's middle initial was "V" for Vera which was his mother's middle name. When Father named him after the death of his mother, Father thought giving their son his own mother's middle name would be like a tribute to her since Grace was far too feminine for a little boy.

"It says here Devin V Wells. You called him Vincent," Frank said not missing a beat.

"Vincent is my middle name. Only my parents call me that. Everyone else calls me Devin. When Catherine met me, I introduced myself as Vincent and it stuck."

"Ok. Well that explains that. I'll be right back," Frank said as he went off to his car to confirm the veracity of the forms he held in his hands.

When Frank was well out of earshot, Devin turned to look at Catherine and said, "Well, it's a good thing you worked all those years at the D.A's office. Do you know all the cops on the force?"

Catherine laughed. "No, I don't know him from the D.A's office. He helped me get home when I went into labor with Jonathan and I got stuck in Central Park trying to get home. I had him take me to my old apartment and then about six hours later I gave birth to Jonathan there."

Catherine could hear Vincent's smothered laugh from the back of the van.

"Oh, I see this wasn't your first foray into leaving home heavily pregnant near giving birth." Devin smiled and laughed.

Frank came back and then waved them on. He let 'Vincent' off with a warning and shortly after they all arrived at the stop in Central Park next to the old iron door where they had been informed would be a small waiting party to help them journey back home down Below with the children and luggage.

Devin waited above and maintained a watchful eye while all the transporting took place. The last thing they needed was an NYC cop coming to their unsuspecting aid and asking impertinent questions.

Eventually all were safely behind the iron door. Vincent stayed behind while Catherine with Jamie and Mouse's assistance helped the children traverse below to their beds.

"Tell Father that I think we may be back for Christmas now that Angela has met you. Father would be happy to meet this daughter-in-law, don't you think?"

"Father would be pleased to have all of you home for always, but he knows you have your life and obligations above so he will take whatever time you want to give to him. He became quite attached to his three beautiful and smart granddaughters. He kept remarking how all three of them reminded him of you."

Devin smiled and was glad to hear that. He and Father had had such a precarious relationship over the years that Devin never knew whether or how he had offended his father. Of all the children that Father and Mary had raised through the years, Devin was Father's only biological son; so the precariousness of the relationship had hurt Devin for many years. During those years Devin thought never going home would be best, but Devin loved where he grew up and, in spite of all the trouble between he and Father, Devin loved his father. He had also come to realize that Father loved him although he had a gruff way of showing it. Vincent had assured Devin that since Catherine had come into their lives that Father's attitude toward allowing his sons' their freedoms was not just reflected on Devin. Father had had more than one occasion called out Catherine for endangering his "special" son.

"Well, I will see you later," Devin said as he stepped forward and embraced his "little" brother. "Love you, Vincent."

"Love you, too, Devin," Vincent said and hugged his brother tightly. The embrace sparked many memories in Vincent's mind at that moments of he and Devin and their talks late at night in Central Park and how a skinny little Vincent would hold his big brother's hand and feel safe as if he were tucked in his bed underneath the earth in their shared chamber.

"Our love to Angela and the children, " Vincent said as he released his brother. Devin backed away and then turned and waved behind him leaving Vincent standing there as Vincent watched his brother return to his life Above.


	15. Chapter 15

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 15

Thanksgiving came and went as did Christmas with no sign or word from Devin or his family and their intended visit. So all progressed without incident except for Father who had caught a cold two days before Christmas and was commanded to remain in bed for a week while Mary fed him chicken soup and provided some much needed TLC.

On Christmas Eve, Father surrounded by not only his foster children and foster grandchildren but also with three of his real grandchildren managed to still tell them the tale of Vincent's birth and how he came to live in the Tunnels. The only exception were his three biological grandchildren, Angelica, Miranda, and Heathermarie Devin's daughters. Now Father added to the story how Catherine and Vincent came to be together and how she now lived as his wife. Many of the more horrific events that had kept Vincent and Catherine together had been glossed over and through the years became minimal aspects beside their great love and devotion for one another.

Christmas then came two days later and Father was back to his old self. After Christmas the rush was on for the Tunnel's own holiday of Winterfest in February. Rebecca and now Catherine started making the candles which would eventually be distributed to their Helpers as their invitation to join the Tunnel dwellers in the Great Hall for their annual celebration.

Lilly, one of Rebecca's daughters had presented Catherine with a note containing a message from Devin. Lilly, only seven years old, could not remember which class Vincent was teaching that day so she found the next best thing knowing that Catherine was with her own mother making candles.

"Thank you, Lilly," Catherine said as she opened the note which bore Devin's handwriting. He was coming for Winterfest! This would be the first Winterfest Devin had attended in over twenty years.

 _"...One thing, Chandler, don't tell Father and if you spill the beans to that little brother of mine please let him know it is to be a surprise!"_ Devin wrote just before the ending salutation.

Catherine looked up toward the ceiling of the chamber and smiled taking a deep, ragged breath with her.

"Anything wrong, Catherine?" Rebecca asked seeing Catherine's facial expression.

Catherine came back to the moment and smiled at Rebecca. "No, completely the opposite. But I have been sworn to secrecy so I can't tell anybody what the note said," Catherine explained painfully to Rebecca.

"Not even Vincent?"

"No, I have to tell Vincent. He's my husband. I don't keep secrets from him."

"Oh, that's good. I was thinking maybe something bad was going on..." Rebecca said laughing and smiling knowing that Catherine was a most devoted wife to their one and only Vincent.

"When this happens it will be wonderful," was all Catherine said before folding the note and placing it back in her pocket of her Tunnel shawl before continuing to help create the Winterfest invitational candles.

"Devin, what is Winterfest? I am not sure I understand. Can we all go?" Angela fired questions at her husband one night lying in their bed side by side trying to encourage sleep. They were leaving the next day for the Tunnels and Angela had been more curious as the months had passed at the experiences of not only her husband living in that place but also that of her children as well. All four individuals told her nothing but seemingly enchanted fairy tales of a place that only Angela could imagine.

"Winterfest is the Tunnels' self created holiday. It marks when with only a handful of people who had been outcasts from society above had created a world and a society where all who were not accepted above could live safely and freely. Of course it is also a celebration for the Helpers. Those who continually help those below by providing services or physical items such as food, clothing, temporary shelter, foster care, or whatever may be required from Below. There's music, dancing, food, gaming, and all types of activities along with the opening ceremony of lighting the chandelier in the Great Hall. It is so much fun. When Vincent and I were little we used to play games of chess and watch the magician man...I forgot his name...Sebastian...do his tricks and make the children happy."

"It sounds almost too perfect to be a real place not only a celebration," Angela said.

"Well, you met Vincent. Did you not think that anyone like him existed either?" Devin asked turning over and putting his arm around his wife and pulling her close.

Angela smiled at him and stroked his cheek. "You have made your point, my love. I can't wait to see it and meet your Father."

"He will love you." Devin then kissed Angela's nose and they held each other through the night.

Meanwhile back in the Tunnels, Catherine and Vincent sat on their bed each feeding a twin from a bottle.

"Father will be so pleased when he sees Devin and meets Angela tomorrow night," Vincent said as he burped Caroline.

"I know. I have been having such a time maintain secrecy from not only Father but our children as well. Jonathan almost bargained it out of me. Of all our children in whom to confide Jonathan is definitely not the one. He is the worst liar. I guess that's a good thing?"

"Catherine, you know that sometimes we have to fib. Even I have had to fib on occasion because my real thought would hurt a person's feelings."

Catherine rubbed V.J's little flat nose with one finger and then looked at his father and said, "Vincent, that's being tactful. That's not fibbing."

Vincent brought Caroline from his shoulder after having heard a huge burp emerge from her and just smiled at her little chubby face.

"Do you know who I see when I look at Caroline's face?" Vincent asked.

"Who?" Catherine wondered.

"I see you as a baby. I think of what your father must have thought when he held you like this."

"I'm not sure if my Father ever fed me as a baby. Back then Fathers didn't do much feeding of their infant children nor change diapers. However my mother had been sick for a long time. She died when I was 10 so I don't know if my Father helped her or not. Strange. I never thought of that before."

"I'm sorry, my love, my intention was not to evoke painful memories," Vincent said rising and placing baby Caroline into her cradle. He kissed her little forehead and placed her swaddled in blankets on her side in the cradle. As he stepped forward to comfort his wife, he watched his son's eyes look at his mother and smiled himself.

"Guess what I see when I look at V.J.?" Catherine said as she looked up at Vincent with a smile which glittered in the candlelight.

"What?" Vincent curiously asked.

"I see an extraordinary child and think how could anyone throw him away. Such a beautifully different child. I think of you and how painful it must have been for you when you were small and it makes me determined more than anything to make V.J.'s world and Mary Margaret's world the best that any child could hope for."

Vincent came to sit next to Catherine and take Vincent, Jr. in his arms and smiled.

"Yes, my son, this son will definitely not bear the same burden that I did. He has a mother who will love him totally and siblings who will teach him and love him because he is their brother, and especially a father who knows what it is like to be him and to know the challenges and who can show he and Mary Margaret how to rise above the obstacles and create their own paradise."

Catherine nestled into the nape of Vincent's neck and looked at her son as Vincent held him and then glanced over at their daughter who remained quietly asleep and listened as their other three lie in the next chamber asleep excited for the Tunnel holiday the next day.

"You are an extraordinary man, Vincent, and I love you."

Catherine kissed Vincent and then took V.J. and placed him in his cradle on his side and then went to join her husband in their bed.


	16. Chapter 16

Take The Long Way Home

Chapter 16

Winterfest was here at last! The Tunnels were bustling in the last minute preparations before the Helpers began their journey below around 5:00 pm. Catherine waited at the iron door in the cold February air for Devin and Angela and their daughters to arrive. She waited with Jonathan and Mary Margaret who both kicked a ball around the inside of the cove in front of the iron door. Vincent was busy with Jacob who had volunteered to set up tables and lift more heavy objects into place including the food stations and the many candle sconces that would be needed once the festivities were in place.

So far, Catherine was surprised that no one had told Father about the Winterfest secret. Catherine had just told the children and decided that she would take the two most rambunctious with her to wait for Devin and his family to keep them out of their father's hair. Besides Mary needed peace and quiet to watch the twins.

"They're here, guys," Catherine said to Jonathan and Mary Margaret who were just beginning to get overheated and weary of playing their kickball game.

"Yay!" Jonathan said jumping up and down.

"Yay!" Mary mimicked in her little raspy voice.

Catherine watched Devin park the van in a good parking place and fill the parking meter with about eight quarters. Good enough for about twelve hours before the meter maids did their runs in the early morning. As Catherine watched Devin help Angelica, Miranda and Heathermarie from the van, she watched him go to the other side and I suppose help Angela from the van. As Catherine spotted Angela come around the van, she noticed something and smiled widely.

Angela was carrying a baby as told by the good size baby bump she was sporting. Catherine could not wait any longer, so she went outside and met the other Wells family at the mouth of the drainage area.

"Devin! Girls! Angela!" Catherine exclaimed and ran to give them all a big warm hug. Jonathan and Mary Margaret imitated their mother and did the same.

Catherine stepped back and opened her arms wide with Angela's.

"Look at you! Now we know why you weren't here for Christmas. Congratulations!" Catherine hugged Angela again.

"Let's get you guys inside and out of the cold air," Catherine said and took Angela's bag.

"This looks full of presents. You never had to do that. I'm sure Devin told you," Catherine said walking and talking with her sister-in-law under her arm.

"These are Christmas presents for you and the children and we have some reserved for Devin's father and stepmother, Mary," Angela said pointing to the bag.

Devin had stopped and stooped down to give his nephew and niece a hug and a kiss and then allowed Jonathan to carry a bag and Mary Margaret to walk with the girls who continued their chatter picking up where they had left off in October while they had been together at Devin's house.

When they were halfway down to Father's chamber, Vincent and Jacob met them.

"Devin, Angela and girls!" Vincent said as his nieces clamored around him and smothered him with hugs and kisses

"Uncle Vincent!" All three girls exclaimed in joy at seeing their special Uncle. Mary Margaret who was feeling a little left out with all the attention that her father was showering her cousins jumped up into his arms as Vincent was rising.

"Hey! He's my daddy!"

"That's right, Mary. I'm your father and I love you very much," Vincent said and hugged her tightly to himself. He smiled at Devin who totally understood. His daughters at times have played selfish with his affection against one another which at times Devin had to pretend each was his own favorite yet letting all three know how much he loved them.

Jacob playing the host led his cousins, brother, and sister toward the lower chambers where all were waiting for his father to officially open the doors to the Great Hall.

"Jacob, lead them as far as the nursery. I don't want you get lost on Winterfest."

"Dad, I do know my way to the Great Hall, you know," Jacob explained. After all he did not want to look like a baby in front of his cousins.

"I know you do, son, but please do as we say. We all want to surprise Grandfather at the same time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father," Jacob said and nodded.

"He's a good boy, isn't he?" Angela said giving Vincent a smile and reaching out for a wonderful warm hug from him. Angela enjoyed getting hugs from him almost as she did her own husband.

"He is. He just wants us to know that he's growing up," Vincent said looking down at Angela's baby bump as he released her.

"Congratulations are in order, I see," Vincent said and smiled and then hugged his brother. "What a wonderful thing to see your growing family."

"Thanks to you two," Devin said softly.

"Nonsense. We did nothing that would not have happened any way," Catherine said.

"Now, let's drop these in our chamber. I will relieve Mary of the twins. Wait until you see how big they are! Then we will make our way to the Great Hall and surprise Father," Catherine said excitedly. She was eagerly anticipating Father's surprise when he would see who had come home for Winterfest.

All four adults now walked alone to Vincent and Catherine's chamber. When they arrived there, they found an older woman rocking one baby in each arm. V.J. and Caroline were now four months old and growing larger by the minute. V.J. still had a kitten face and his hair was growing longer and was the exact same color of Vincent's. Caroline's little face had grown more cherubic and her large green eyes were the exact same color as Catherine's.

"Oh my gosh! They've grown!" Angela had said as she reached for one of the babies and Mary had handed her Caroline.

"Mary, meet Angela Wells. Devin's wife and my savior and the twins' substitute mom for a few days when I was in Pittsburgh. Angela, meet Grandmother Mary, Father's wife and the woman who practically one handedly raised our husbands."

"Angela!" Mary exclaimed and handing V.J. to his mother hugged Angela as best she could while Angela still held Caroline. Vincent came to take his daughter from his sister-in-law which allowed them to hug a little more closely.

"You're expecting another baby! How wonderful!" Mary said and kissed both Angela and Devin as he closed in upon the two women.

"Congratulations, you two. Where are your girls?"

"It seems your oldest grandson has absconded with his cousins. Vincent told them to wait just beyond the nursery for us," Devin explained.

"Well, then if you two (pointing to Vincent and Catherine) have everything, let's make our way to the Great Hall. Father is going to be so happy. I cannot believe no one let the cat out of the bag about your visit."

"It was not easy!" Catherine explained and kissed her son on his little cheek and grabbed his diaper bag while she watched Vincent do the same with their Caroline's baby bag. Since they were not of the same sex, it was just easier to take two diaper bags one for each twin. Besides if Mary Margaret needed anything like a change of clothes or her pajamas, either parent would know in which bag to look. Jacob and Jonathan were too old to need much of anything they could not retrieve themselves.

The whole entourage met at the entrance to the nursery chamber which was empty as all the children were now waiting at the doors of the Great Chamber. Vincent, looking very handsome and fairy tale-esque in his ruffled shirt, knit vest, leather pants with a chain belt, proceeded forward in front of the crowd and with Devin's help removed the large bar which had kept the Great Hall doors closed until today so as not to spoil the decorations and arrangements for the celebration.

Father, leaning heavily on his cane and holding Jonathan's hand, was surprised to see his eldest son standing beside his youngest son as they removed the bar.

"Devin?" Father said incredulously.

"Yes, Jacob. Not only him, but his whole family," Mary whispered in her husband's ear taking his arm.

Father and Devin hugged and then each of his daughters clamored for special attention from their grandfather. He remembered each granddaughter by name and kissed them all in turn. Finally it was Angela's turn.

"Father, this is my wife, Angela Wells," Devin said.

"Oh, my dear, it so good to finally meet you. Welcome to the family," Father said giving her a hug.

Angela wiped the tears from her eyes. "I almost cannot believe this place. Devin was not kidding when he said this world feels like a dream. I am so glad to be here and to finally meet all of you."

"And Father coming in approximately four and half months will be my son, Devin Vincent Wells," Devin said giving his wife's belly a pat.

"You're sure it's a boy, Devin?'

"Relatively sure, anyhow," Devin explained.

"Well, whatever this new child will be is wonderful," Father said.

"I do not mean to interrupt, but we are all waiting for you to precede us into the Great Hall, Father," Vincent said politely.

"Of course," Father said. He looked at Devin and his wife and said, "We will talk after."

"We most certainly will," Angela said taking Father's arm from Mary. "May I escort you, if your wife doesn't mind, through the door?"

"Believe me, she doesn't mind," Mary said as she took Devin's arm to escort her through the door.

When all were safe and accounted for in the Great Hall, the lighting ceremony took place. Once that was through every one mingled. Joe Maxwell and Diana Bennett came to help celebrate and were introduced to Devin. In the case of Joe, Devin was reintroduced as Devin had been playing the fake lawyer the first time he had met Joseph Maxwell. Of course that little escapade was fondly told by Joe and Devin to Angela.

Diana Bennett was introduced to Devin and Angela as the woman who had been so persistent in finding baby Jacob when he was kidnapped after birth. Devin and Angela were both overcome by her simple appearance and kind manner. She explained that she had spent a lot of time alone in her work, but that all had changed when she took the case of missing baby Jacob. She, herself, had once looked at this world as a fairy tale and now she appreciated their help as much as the Tunnelfolk appreciated her help.

As the hours progressed, stories of lives were shared, tears of joy, sorrow, and life were shed by every one. At the end of the night when all the food was eaten and the children lay in their parents' laps drifting to sleep, the closing ceremony was said and done. All manner of people began to straggle out family by family to peacefully sleep in their chambers or venturing Above happy knowing that this place existed and would continue to exist.


	17. Epilogue

**Author's Note: Well, here it is the Epilogue to this story that I had not intention of making quite this long or taking this amount of time to finish. Just in time for Winterfest 2017! I have enjoyed writing this and stepping back into the world created by others but allowing me to wander a little. Please R &R and I wish you a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year! - Carebearmaxi**

Take The Long Way Home -

Epilogue

Vincent and Catherine lay in their bed together. Catherine lay with her head on Vincent's massive chest as they both drifted off to sleep with the quiet sounds of the Tunnels at night. Lazy pipespeak messages were the only sounds passing through the Tunnels chambers as Pascal's son was monitoring messages for the night. Catherine and Vincent both lay there knowing that their older children were just down the hall a few feet in their shared chamber and their four-month-old twins each now laying in their own crib. The sound of Vincent, Jr. sucking his thumb soothing himself to sleep and Caroline sucking on a pacifier soothing herself to sleep was somehow soothing to their parents who only lie a few feet away. Vincent, Jr. and Caroline both now slept through the night not needing an extra feeding. Both children were thriving under the loving care of not only their parents but of all the parents and grandparents in the Tunnels. Vincent and Catherine also played that part when called upon as well. They both had enough love in their hearts to spread it to all the children in one way or another.

"Father talked with Devin and Angela the whole time at Winterfest. It looked like they are finally able to be in the same place at the same time without tearing each other apart," Catherine said sleepily.

"Yes, I was almost jealous," Vincent said with a quiet little snicker. He smiled wider as he heard his wife's giggle along with his knowing she understood he was joking.

"The only time I ever knew you had a jealous bone in your body was when you thought I wanted to marry Elliott or Michael had mistaken his infatuation with me for love," Catherine said.

"Aren't you flattered?" Vincent said mockingly.

"Of course, I am," Catherine joked back. Then rising on her elbow she looked into her husband's sky blue eyes. They lay in muted candlelight close to one another. She bent closer to Vincent's ear.

"You never have to be jealous of any one. I'm yours and I have been yours from day one."

Vincent looked up at his wife and said, "You are an amazing woman, Catherine. You have helped Devin come home once again. This time to be accepted fully."

"I don't think it was all my doing. I just wanted Father and he to come to an understanding. I think the one that you should thank for their reconciliation is Angela. She's a healer. Not just in her profession but in her manner and loving spirit."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. When she first saw me she hugged me and kissed me on my cheek," Vincent said and kissed Catherine.

"Now maybe I should be jealous," Catherine said eyeing Vincent slyly. They both smiled at each other and then Catherine looked away but remained thoughtful and spoke quietly.

"Devin certainly took the long way home, though," Catherine said. "Ten years later, he comes home by way of a depressed wife and having had a family of whom no one knew nor any one could guess"

"It doesn't matter how he came home. Just that he did," Vincent said and pulling Catherine down into his arms again began stroking her back and shoulders manufacturing tingles down her spine.

"Goodnight, my love," Catherine said.

"Goodnight, my love," Vincent responded.

Then silence surrounded the couple as they really went to sleep this time closing Winterfest celebration again for another year.


End file.
